Understandings
by KennaS
Summary: OngoingKagome has to save the Prince from danger, can she do it without killing him first? She isnt too sure, but when the attacks start on her and turn the tables with the Prince, shes not amused.
1. After Sundown

Understanding

By KennaS

AN/ My last name isn't Takahashi and...you get the idea. Don't make me

kill you for stupidity. For those of you reading for the first time, I hope you like it. For those of you who are in the process of reading it already, I've made some major changes to the story and chapters. Please bear with me because I am not yet finished.

This story is rated "Young Adult" for its language and content. Don't come back

and say I didn't warn you.

Chapter 1: After Sundown

Kagome sat on the bank of the river watching the sun set. She had a punishment to dole out; Hisoka would die for his crimes. The High Counsel of Demons demanded it and tonight, she would enjoy her job like never before.

Hisoka was a demon who couldn't keep his hands to himself. He liked the ladies a little too much for his own good. He was good looking and he knew it and that in itself was a dangerous thing. He didn't like to be rejected. He hadn't been rejected often but when he was...You couldn't contain his lust. Hisoka was a rapist. He didn't rape like the others though. That was too easy for him. He was after something more.

You see, when a woman is taken by force, she can withdraw into herself and escape. But not with Hisoka. No. He went after their souls and the rape of a soul was the worst. The victim couldn't escape inside herself and that was the thrill Hisoka sought. The silent screaming. That's what got to him, what drove him. He dove in deep, slashing and cutting his way to the heart of the soul, never even having to touch her.

He never once soiled his hands with blood. It was done through the eyes. He looked deep into her terrified eyes and was drawn to the fear. Guided by it. Once there, he would twist it and turn it inside out until it burst in his hands, leaving the body an empty but living and breathing shell. He then turned them out on the streets and watched with humor as the broken shell was tossed about in the turmoil of every day life. He watched them die. That was the best part. He stuck around for hours to watch them. Oh how he loved it, and tonight he would claim his next victim.

It was almost time; Kagome stood and brushed herself off. She concentrated as her demon body shimmered with faint silver light. Her long dark hair, normally falling to her waist, shrank and turned a light shade of brown. Her extremely curvy figure shrank down until she looked 16. (He always did pick them young) The black leather outfit and boots reserved for the executioner of the High Demon Council shrank into a school uniform. She looked at her reflection in the water. She was ready.

Hisoka stood outside the library after dark waiting for his next victim, but he didn't have to wait long.

Kagome camouflaged her demon essence and walked out of the library doors and down the stairs. She could see him waiting patiently, at the bottom, for some one that interested him. Her heart skipped a beat. The council had warned her to be careful but she had no idea he would be THAT handsome. His good looks had taken the life of two of the better executioners that attempted to kill him before her. Too bad for him. She was the best. Her title coveted by all the exterminators below her. To call Kagome out meant the council was really pissed. She gave a slight smile as she passed by him. This would be fun. She was in need of a good workout.

Hisoka watched her. She was beautiful and she was the one. He straightened up to follow her from a distance, watching the way she walked, sent shivers down his spine. Oh yes, he would play with this one for hours before he crushed her soul.

Kagome felt him behind her. She felt his eyes on her back and shivered slightly. She hadn't been affected like this before. It was like he was casting a spell on her. The scary part was...she didn't seem to mind. Eager to get this done and over with she turned down an alley and slowed her pace.

Hisoka couldn't believe his luck. The beauty before him had just turned down a dead end alley and his body started to react with his excitement. As he rounded the corner he saw the girl slow down towards the back as she seemed to be looking for something. He smiled wickedly. She had no idea what she was about to find.

Kagome sensing he was near started looking for ways for him to escape. Satisfied when she found none, she slowly turned to him. He was coming down the alley towards her. Her heart stopped for a half of a beat, and then she got it under control. The spell had no power over the dangerous executioner. She was the best after all.

Hisoka watched her turn around and face him. Oh she was so beautiful. Yes he would definitely take his time with this one. He might even keep her alive to do it all over again.

"Are you lost young lady?" he smiled and asked sweetly.

"No sir. I know exactly where I Am." looking into his eyes.

This time his heart skipped a beat. He thought she was beautiful before, but as she spoke her body shimmered and she returned to her normal form. Now she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. He wanted her, and he wanted her to love him. 'If she would love me, I would never touch another soul again!' he thought. But that thought came a split second too late.

She leaned pack and put a well placed kick to the center of his chest. She heard two ribs crack. He was a demon. It was going to take so much more than that to kill him. She didn't mind though. She did need the work out.

Hisoka's eyes widened as she broke his ribs. He felt his heart break when he realized she would never be his. That surprised him. He didn't know he would ever feel this way about a woman. Resolve flashed though his eyes. If she won, he would die but if he won, he would make her his. He stood up and winced at the pain, but ignored it to concentrate on his prize.

She sighed when he stood up. She could see what he was thinking and she wasn't too happy about it. 'Just once, she thought, I wish I could find a good looking guy and not have to kill him.' She pondered this thought as she spun and kicked him in the head, effectively bringing him down. She landed in a crouching position to watch him. She was in a foul mood now and longer wanted to play. She stood and stepped over to him.

The last thing Hisoka heard was Kagome say "What a waste of a handsome body." He had a smile upon his lips when she dealt the final blow.

Pulling out her phone she called the counsel. "He's done" she stated simply. She hung up the phone and sadly bent over to touch the body causing it to glow faintly. The other demons would be able to find it and it would be masked from human view now. 'Why are they all always so bad' she asked herself. "Because you the best of the best, stupid. It's your job to track down the nasty ones and kill them." she said out loud as she removed the stone pendant from around his neck.

She missed home. The thought of her homelands, Alden, was comforting

but now it seemed so far away. She was the most powerful demon on

Earth, aside from the Counsel members. The Big Demons had

finally gotten over the separate worlds thing and allowed humans and

demons to pass between the two. It was nice to come and visit here but

Kagome hadn't had a desire to stay. That is until some problem demons

popped up.

The rule was if you were going to pass through to Earth, the people

mustn't know who or what you were. That would cause a rush of

residents into Alden and the demon counsel of Earth didn't want that.

But that was not of Kagome's concerns. She was still here because, she

was found to have extraordinary powers. The High Counsel had sensed

the super powers, if you will, when she came through the portal. She

was summoned by the Counsel and was told of the problem demons and was

asked to be the head of an execution squad. How could she refuse? With

filth like Hisoka running around, she would never be able to enjoy

herself. And that's how she came to be here.

She was 125 years old and for the past 73 years, she lived on Earth.

Demons really didn't age, and for that she was grateful. She had

started to like her job after a few years and now she full out loved

it. There was nothing better than taking out a creep who liked to hurt

others. The weak humans needed protecting and she was their protector.

It was a satisfying job.

As she neared the palace where the high counsel members resided a red headed man ran out to meet her.

"Demoness Kagome, master Sesshomaru wishes an audience with you in his chambers!" the man gasped.

"Thank you, Shippo. Please inform him I will be there as soon as I clean up."

"Yes, Demoness Kagome." Bowing he turned and ran back to his master.

Kagome went to her chambers and began to clean up and she thought about her meeting with Sesshomaru. 'I wonder what he could possibly want so soon after a job. I thought this one went very well.' She cleaned the blood off of the leather and polished it till it was shiny again.

She didn't like to wear it all the time. It made the other executioners nervous; she being the highest in rank was the only one to have a black uniform, the rest wore a dark gray. She didn't want to make them feel uncomfortable around her but they were anyway. Kagome just wasn't sure if it was the uniform or the fact that she could kill any one of them with a single blow that scared most of the others off.

Sighing she put her suit in the closet and opted for a dark blue dress. She still had to wear the darker colors but it didn't have to be black and it didn't have to be her uniform unless she was on a job or there was a special event or visitor to the palace. Standing in front of the mirror she examined herself carefully and wiped one last spot of blood off her face as she turned to go to Sesshomaru's chambers.

Sesshomaru was an over powering, breath taking presence, his broad shoulders and muscular arms told the story of many battles. His long silver hair hung down to his waist, eyes of the darkest liquid amber she had ever seen. His robes were the traditional white, blue and red of the High Counsel warrior. He was powerful, masculine, and sexy and had a strong aura about him that left others in awe, but he had one special characteristic. Sesshomaru the Great had puppy ears. Well that wasn't true...exactly.

Demons could change their natural features to look like what ever they wanted and Sesshomaru chose to have puppy ears, and if that in itself wasn't cute enough, they flopped over at the tip. He had chosen to have the ears because it helped him to remember to be kind. He kept them hidden when he was around others, but when it was just Kagome and himself, he let the spell down that hid them. Kagome had been the only one to ever see him with them because he wanted to make this woman smile, and she loved his little black and silver ears. However handsome and adorable he was, Sesshomaru was also powerful demon, only the King himself was stronger, and by a long shot at that. However, Sesshomaru was fine with this. What would he do with such power any way?

Kagome had made her way to Sesshomaru's chambers and was just about ready to knock when she heard his powerful voice call "Come in."

She didn't ever think she would get used to him knowing where she was at all times. It was a part of having the job. She had to be connected to them incase she failed in her missions. Like she ever would. Still, they needed to know what had become of her and this was the way to do it. The Counsel would never step in; she would have to accept her fate as it came. Sadly the only thing the link served was to tell where to pick up her body.

She entered the massive room. His room was the greatest in the palace. Three times the size of her own and decorated to rival the heavens beauty. He liked to surround himself with beautiful things.

Bowing, "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes." He stated offering her a seat.

On the way by she couldn't help but to reach out and tug on an ear. He smiled, but only a small one; he was concerned for her, she could tell.

"I wanted to talk to you about tonight. I felt some sadness and anger from you. This isn't normal, well normal for you anyway."

She thought about this for a moment. "I really don't know what you want me to say. I was sad about having to kill some one so handsome. It was a shame really. He was evil and he didn't deserve to live though. But right at the end I felt him...change," she was at a loss for more words.

"What do you mean, change?" he questioned her gently

"Well..." she began. "I saw a resolve in his eyes; something that said that he was determined to never hurt another soul again. I'm not sure what it was, but I was sad because I knew I had to kill him anyway. And he was smiling when he died. Really, I mean, who smiles when they're about to die?" She looked down at her hands and fidgeted. It was awful facing Sesshomaru like this. How do you explain the feeling radiating off of some one when it really didn't have a name in the first place? Overwhelming sadness, regret, remorse, and a touch of lust; it was all those things rolled into one and at the same time, none of them at all.

Sesshomaru nodded as he stood up. He wasn't sure himself what had happened with her but he was going to be careful. This hadn't gone like the past kills but he didn't know how it was different. He could sense a storm brewing on the horizon and couldn't place where it was coming from. Somehow he had to help prevent an emotional explosion. He knew it was against the rules to interfere, but she was going to need some time to recover from this. He just hadn't decided what he was going to do quite yet.

"Are you feeling up to a walk, Kagome?"

"Sure." she said standing and looking up at his ears longingly.

Smiling ever so slightly, he bent down so she could touch them once more before he covered them again. 'That girl is going to drive me to insanity.' he thought as they walked out the door.

Kagome twirled, her cloak fanning out disturbing a small pile of fallen leaves. The garden air was crisp with the promise of snow. Fall was in full swing and a better part of the leaves had dropped giving the trees a skeletal look. This was one of Kagome's two favorite seasons, the Spring being the other. The nip in the Fall air till mid morning, warm jacketless afternoons and evenings by the fire were invigorating. Jogging in the fall with the crunch of leaves under foot made her almost giddy with excitement. Crunchy leaves meant that the Christmas season was approaching.

Kagome frowned at the thought of Christmas. She and her friends had become fascinated by the quaint Christmas traditions and had wanted to learn why the Westerners celebrated as they did. They had made plans to take their first vacation in fifty years to visit the United States this Christmas season and find out what made this holiday so special. Now, since Kagome was the only one left, it looked as if she wouldn't be going.

Sesshomaru looked in time to see Kagome wipe away a tear. He cleared his throat. "I am sorry for the loss of your friends. I really never did tell you that, the timing just never seemed right."

Kagome sobbed, her head falling in her hands. Over the past week, she had been silent; bearing the weight of grief on her own and now she couldn't stand it anymore. Sesshomaru cursed and picked her up, carrying her to a near by bench. He settled down, Kagome cradled in his arms while she cried. He should have insisted that she take the time for herself.

He kissed the top of her head and rocked her as sob after miserable sob shook her body and tore through Sesshomaru's heart. Kagome needed a break and may he be damned if he couldn't find some way to give her that. Soon, the sobs stopped, turning instead to sniffles and a small, weak sigh came. He hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her eyes up to meet his, smiling as he wiped away the last of her tears. "Feel a little better now?" She nodded as she moved to get up then changed her mind and flung her arms around him burying her face in his neck.

He wrapped his arms around her as she whispered "Thank you." Her breath caused a small, almost unnoticeable shiver through him. He nodded unable to speak. It was the times like this that caused him to be so over protective of her. Sesshomaru was amazed that some one could be as strong and deadly as she was and in these rare moments, as delicate as a lotus flower.

She sighed at the effort it took to remove her self from his lap. It had been a long time since she had felt that safe and loved. "Ready?"

"Only if you are."

She chuckled. "Not really, but in my line of work, that could be deadly." Sesshomaru shook his head, linked her arm in his and continued their walk through the garden.

She hadn't intended to stay with Sesshomaru for so long; she never did, but some how, when she was with him they never seemed to make it back early. Time lost itself when the two friends were together; he was just that easy to talk to. She did wish though, that his servant, Shippo, wouldn't follow them around everywhere. The red headed man never left his masters' side or so it would seem. It didn't matter anyway; he was always so quiet that she would soon forget he was there. That caused her to remember she needed to thank him for the privacy in the garden while she cried. He had respectfully retreated to just inside the doors so that he could be beckoned when called, but still allow the privacy she so obviously needed with Sesshomaru.

She stepped into her room and sighed. It had been a long day and she was ready for bed. Sleep escaped her however. She could only think of Hisoka. He, in the end, had been just as lonely as she is. His cure for it was soul crushing but she didn't have a cure for hers. She cried herself to sleep.

In his chambers Sesshomaru felt Kagome's pain and a single tear slid down his cheek.


	2. Kagomes Next Assignment

Chapter 2

Kagome's Next Assignment

Kagome woke up to a stormy morning. That was fine with her because she liked the rain. The world always smelled so fresh and clean after a storm. Dressing she rang for breakfast, the residents of the palace only ate together on special occasions. Each person, having their own schedule, made this an unfortunate necessity. She hated to eat alone and almost wished she had a servant to keep her company. She never had taken one, although her position gave her right to. She hated the idea of someone taking care of her when she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

Walking through the gardens later that day she found herself in front of the Demoness Sango of the High Counsel. Bowing with respect, she stood in silent awe. The Demoness in front of her radiated a silver light that stunned others to silence. This was a special power given to her by the stone she wore around her neck. Not everyone had a special power though. Only the High Counsel and Kagome had the extra gifts. Or at least that's the way it was supposed to be. There were some demons that had found a way to tap into the King's stones and blessed themselves with powers. That's how Hisoka had the power over the soul and to take the lives of two of her friends. She missed them greatly. They had only been gone two weeks but for her it seemed like a life time ago. Kagome didn't even know what her special talent was. She was so powerfully strong without it, that she never bothered to find out, and doubted she would even try.

"Kagome, what a pleasant surprise to see you here; are you enjoying your afternoon off?" asked Sango.

"Yes, very much so Lady Sango, thank you for asking."

"Good, you will need to be in audience with the entire High Counsel tonight. Make sure you are rested up. This next assignment will require all of your strength and patience. Dinner will be at eight, do not be late." With that the High Demoness Sango disappeared.

Kagome sighed. She had hoped to have one more day to recover form her losses and misery but her job was more important. She had only a few more hours to enjoy before she would need to get ready, so she decided to go pay a visit to the library.

Spending the rest of the afternoon reading hadn't relaxed her enough to face the dinner. She always hated these assignment meetings. All seven of the High Counsel members and three dozen or so spectators were in attendance. The executioner (Kagome) was seated at one end of the table and the highest council member, Sesshomaru the Great, was seated at the other. She didn't know the other counsel members that sat in between as well as she knew Sesshomaru or Sango and so was always nervous when the dinner was to begin. Formality was a must. This was the business of deciding the death sentence of a fellow demon and wasn't to be taken lightly. The dinner was eaten, then the announcement was made and the fate was sealed. The executioner was to carry out their orders immediately. This time was different though. Sesshomaru had enough and confronted the other members about his concerns. Much to his relief they agreed and granted permission for his idea. He was going to enjoy this.

Kagome entered the hall and sat in her seat. She wished that they could get someone other than her for this assignment because she wasn't ready to take another life just yet. Last night was too fresh in her memory. She had never shown remorse for dealing with a criminal and she wasn't sure why this one affected her the way it did. She decided that she could never think of him again because, if she were to have, she didn't think she would be able to do her job and her job was all that mattered.

Dinner ended and the tables were cleared away. Kagome stood, smoothed her dress and took her position to stand before the council. The audience that had been talking before took this as a sign and the talking died to silence. Sesshomaru Stood and cleared his throat to speak. 'This is different.' thought Kagome. The High Counsel members never stood to address the audience. 'I wonder what is going on.'

Sesshomaru could see the confusion in her eyes as he stood. He had to try very hard to hide his smirk. Yes, he was going to enjoy this.

"Demoness Kagome, Please step forward!" his voice thundered through the room.

Kagome became scared. This wasn't part of the ceremony of sentencing, what was going on? She hadn't ever had to meet with Sesshomaru after a kill before and his questions last night had unnerved her. She took a few steps forward and stopped. The slow smile that spread across Sesshomaru's face turned her blood to ice. Lady Sango had the same look on her face as well and Kagome was close to fainting.

"Demoness Kagome, we have reviewed your work for us..." Sesshomaru started in a loud voice. "And we," turning around to indicate the six other members of the High Counsel, "have come to a decision."

Kagome's heart sunk to her knees and her face paled. She had thought they liked her work. Why else would they have chosen her to be the top executioner? She started to panic.

Sesshomaru had watched the terror flood her face and he could take it no more.

"Your service to us has been invaluable and we want to keep it that way. We are therefore giving you a reprieve from your duties for a few weeks in order to do us a personal service." Sesshomaru almost laughed out loud at the relief that washed across her face. He couldn't, because he was the head council member and could show no weakness in public, however that had been close.

Kagome's legs almost collapsed under her. A reprieve! She was so happy she almost cried.

"Thank you sir!" she almost yelled with the flood of relief she felt flowing through her body.  
"You may not want to thank me yet." he stated with an arched eyebrow. The Demon King is sending one of his sons, Prince InuYasha; to Earth to stay with us for a month and he needs an escort to err...um... keep him out of trouble. His father is making sure his son has the knowledge to sit on the High Demon Counsel properly. He will arrive here tonight and you will meet him tomorrow. You have your orders Kagome. You may take your leave now."

Seething, Kagome bowed to Sesshomaru and then bowed to the rest of the High Council of Demons and turned to leave.

With all eyes on Kagome, Sesshomaru was free to smile. Yes he truly had enjoyed that.

I cannot believe this! How dare them?" she said as she stormed to her room.

She kicked open the door and spun around to kick it closed again, But her foot made contact with Sesshomaru's chest and not the door. It was lucky for him that she hadn't kicked it that hard.

Sesshomaru had followed Kagome to her room to try to explain his reasoning to her. She had kicked the door open and he knew just then exactly how angry she really was. He hurried over to talk to her when she kicked for the door and make contact with him instead.

Gasping in disbelief at what she had just done she ran over to help him up.

"Sesshomaru, I am so sorry sir!" she managed to choke out.

He was impressed at her strength. He had known she was stronger than the rest but he had no idea about how much. He winced at the pain as he stood and chuckled. "Had you been anyone else Kagome, you would have been dead by now."

She winced because this was true. The penalty for harming a High Counsel Member was immediate death. Sesshomaru was fond of her and she knew that he was just joking.

Changing the subject Kagome became angry again. "How could you degrade me to a damn babysitter?" the venom practically dripping from her voice.

Sesshomaru just chuckled again. "It's only for the time that the Prince is here. You will return to your normal duties after he leaves. We can trust no one other than you for this job. The Prince has some more difficult personality traits and you are the only one with the ability to stand up to them. Now get some sleep. You're going to need all you wits and strength to keep up." He turned to walk out the door when Kagome stopped him.

"Thank you Sir." was all she said.

"Good night Kagome," he smiled and closed her door behind him.

It was a fitful, sleepless night and Kagome slowly opened her eyes and glared at the ceiling. It was way too early in the morning to even be awake, let alone thinking but it was giving her a headache to pretend to sleep any longer. She was not looking forward to today at all. Rolling over, she pulled the covers up over her head and groaned. This was going to be the longest month of her life. She was an executioner, not a babysitter.

Getting up she walked over and looked out of the window at the lake below and smiled at the fact it had ice at its fringes. Winter was definitely on its way on its way. In a few weeks if not sooner snow would be on the ground. Kagome sighed. What did it matter to her? She wouldn't have to go out and hunt in it anyway, now that she was a babysitter. Why did a 130 year old demon need a babysitter anyway? Seriously, what trouble could he possibly get into? Kagome wasn't going to have to wait long to find out.

She started to ring for breakfast but there was a knock at her door. Throwing on her favorite robe, she went to answer it pondering who was foolish enough to bother her at this hour of morning. She swung the door open, ready to verbally assault the person on the other side and froze. Sesshomaru was there with her breakfast already in hand.

"I thought, with your new assignment, we might not be able to spend much time together, so I brought you breakfast in hopes you would join me." he smiled.

"Sure, come on in." she held the door open for him. "Let me just go and get dressed." How did he know she was going to order bacon and eggs?

She put on her uniform. Normally she wouldn't have to, but there was royalty in the palace, and that required her to dress for work at all times. In fact, the entire palace would dress in uniform for the month.

She came back to find Sesshomaru had set up the breakfast and had sat down to wait for her. "Thank you for this," she began. "I thought as well, that we might not get many chances to talk this month."

"You are most welcome." he stated as he handed her a cup of tea.

"So how are you this morning Sesshomaru?"

"I am fine, but I find myself worrying about you." He told her.

"Me?" surprised that he would be concerned

"Yes, I have not seen you smile in weeks."

"Oh, well I didn't think I had to walk around with a smile plastered on my face." she teased.

"Well from now on you do." He told her smugly. Kagome kicked at Sesshomaru under the table and did smile. Sesshomaru wished she would smile more. She was beautiful when she did.

Finishing her meal she stood to clear the dishes and put the finishing touches on her uniform. She attached her sword to her hip and straightened her buckles. Giving one final glance at herself in the mirror she turned to face Sesshomaru. "I really am glad that you're my friend. I think the time off will do me some good, thanks for arranging it for me."

He walked over and hugged her because he was just as glad they were friends as she was. It was hard to be so serious all the time and he enjoyed the freedom she allowed him, to just be himself. As if sensing what he was thinking, she reached up and tugged on his ear and he growled at her as she laughed.

"Its time we go to meet with him now, Kagome." Sesshomaru said carefully turning her towards the door.

He could feel a small resistance as he pushed her, but with a little more pressure she went forward to the door. "This will be good for you Kagome." he stated.

"If it helps you sleep tonight, Sesshomaru, you can just keep telling yourself that." she sighed.

She waited outside the door for him to pass her. She was always to walk slightly behind him just to his right. This signified that she served as the High Counsel's right hand, so to speak. Her boots clicked softly as she walked and her sword hit upon her side with every step. She placed her hand on the hilt to stop its movement. She was skilled with the weapon but chose not to use it at work, opting for her body instead. She found the sword limited what could and couldn't be done in a fight and she hated feeling limited so it was usually left behind; however, it was a required part of the uniform with royalty here. She would have to suffer through the month with it at her side.

The two rounded the corner and came to the Great Hall. Sesshomaru parted ways with Kagome and took his place behind and above the other Counsel as he was the highest ranked member. Kagome took her place off to the side of the platform this time to the left and faced the audience with her staff behind her in a ranking line. She would stand guard here until she was called forth. After everyone took their places the doors opened and a man and two female servants walked in.

He stood a head taller than Kagome. His formal robes were of a rich, dark blue with silver accents that shimmered when he walked and his pants were black as well as his shoes. His silver hair was kept long and gathered by a black leather strip at the base of his neck. His chest and shoulders were strong and muscular, but he looked like he had never been in battle a day in his life. Why should he have been, when that's what people like her were for? His servants were dressed in sheer baggy purple pants and short tight tops. She slightly shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. Yes Kagome's uniform was skin tight, but it was to keep the enemy from grabbing on to her clothing and using it to their advantage. Theirs was for plain and simple pleasure. She smiled slightly. She guessed they had a job to do as well.

He caught her movement out of the corner of his eye and smirked at her. She was pretty enough but she looked like she was ready to attack at any moment. That just made his amusement even greater. She was going to be fun to torture. Attitude or not, just like all the rest, he would send her running home in tears. It irked him that everywhere he went they sent him some sniveling person to be his guide. They did that in France last week. That girl had been the most fun so far. It took a whole three days to make her cry.

Kagome swore she had never seen a more arrogant man in her life. That nasty little smile he was giving her was enough to make her want to rip out his eyes. Almost as if he could see her thoughts, his smirk got larger.

As she calculated exactly the angle to go about getting to his eyes, she gasped slightly, noticing they were the same gorgeous liquid amber as Sesshomaru's. Perhaps that color wasn't as rare as she had once thought.

"Welcome to the palace of the High Demon Counsel, Prince InuYasha," Sesshomaru began. "Feel free to have full run of the grounds but be sure to take your guide with you whenever you leave your chambers. This is a dangerous region and she is there for your protection. "

'I highly doubt that.' he thought as he turned and looked her over again. He wondered how she ever managed to complete an execution in her life. She looked entirely too fragile and her stance and grace made her seem way too innocent as to have ever killed anyone.

Stepping forward when Sesshomaru called for her she turned and bowed to her new charge. She didn't like her new position as palace babysitter, but she still showed her respect for her title. Yes, this was going to be one hell of a long month.

Sesshomaru gestured to a chair next to his for the Prince to sit in, his entourage taking place behind. Business carried on a usual, arrangements made for the ball in the Princes honor, people tripping over themselves to be introduced to the Prince. Kagome sat back and watched it all with a fair amount of disgust. Why people drooled and slobbered on the shoes of those higher up was beyond her. The Prince began every morning just like every one else. 'No, perhaps not.' She thought factiously as a purple clad servant handed him a drink. She rolled her eyes and a snicker coming from the ranks behind her snapped Kagome out of her daydream of a drownding Prince to discover Sesshomaru was in the process of dismissing everyone. He bowed to Sesshomaru and turned to glance at Kagome. She sighed and followed him out into the hall.

InuYasha whirled on Kagome, startling her in to a subtle defensive stance which fortunately, he missed. "You will follow me wherever I go?"

"Yes, every time you leave your room I will accompany you." she replied coolly, relaxing. Why the hell was she so jumpy?

He turned and dismissed his two servants back to his chambers and turned to Kagome and smirked. "I want to take a walk around the palace now. I arrived so late last night that I didn't see much." and took off with out even a glance back.

"As you wish." Kagome bit out and followed several steps be hind him.

They walked in silence the till noon. Finally tiring, he returned to his chambers which were located next to hers. Access to the Prince in case of an emergency was a must, and that he would not have to wait on her for long when he needed to leave. "I will send for you later this evening." With that he turned and entered his chambers.

Kagome waited for his door to close before sighing and returning to her chambers. That man was so arrogant! She had a headache and needed to lie down.


	3. An Enounter to Remember

Chapter 3  
An Encounter to Remember

Kagome awoke to a knock on her door. "How long have I been asleep?" she mumbled as she walked to the door. Looking at the watch hidden just out of sight under her sleeve, she found it had been four hours. 'Wow,' she mouthed to herself. She had still been exhausted from the past few weeks and had needed it. She hadn't known sorrow could take so much out of a person.

She barely recognized the girl standing on the other side of the door as one of the princes 'servants' from yesterday morning.. "His Highness wishes to walk in the gardens after dinner. He will call on you at eight"

"Thank you for letting me know, I will be ready." stated Kagome, gently closing the door on the girl.

The pair of eyes that had been watching from the shadows faded back into the wall and disappeared. They made their way across the city into an abandoned building. Or at least it was supposed to be abandoned. The eyes floated back into they're owners head. 'So he's planning on a walk in the gardens tonight. He should just wear a sign that says come and kill me. He never did have a sense of self preservation; he lives for the moment and nothing more. Which is fine by me, it just makes him all that much easier to kill.' the figure thought.

Standing, he called for two of his henchmen to come forward. The two of you will go to the palace of the Demon High Counsel tonight and kill Prince InuYasha. He will be in the gardens tonight at eight. Do it quickly...and painfully if you can. Be careful however, the Demoness Kagome will be with him."

At the mention of her name the two lower demons looked at the floor, their job had just become significantly more difficult, not to mention dangerous.

Kagome was just finishing up her meal when there was a knock at her door. Glancing at the clock she found she still has fifteen minuets before her scheduled walk. Opening the door she found the Prince standing there. Surprised she quickly bowed to him and moved to the side to let him enter.

"I am sorry you're Highness! I was under the assumption that I still had fifteen minuets left." she stated with much chagrin.

He chuckled at her obvious embarrassment. "You are not late my dear, I decided to go early. I hope its mot an inconvenience for you."

"No your Highness, it is not. Shall we go?" With that she led him to the door and stepped aside to wait for him to pass.

He led the way down to the gardens and stopped before they got even half way. He turned to her and asked "Why do you always walk five steps behind me?"

Looking truly shocked at his question she replied "I am in the service of the Demon Prince InuYasha; I follow as per the rules of my station as security for you while you are here."

"Well I don't like it. It makes me feel like someone is following me everywhere I go." he teased her "Get up here and walk with me."

Her eyes widened and she started to protest when he cut her off "Now." he said firmly.

She nodded and they continued on their walk, side by side this time.

Turning to look at her "Tell me, Kagome isn't it, how you came to be here in the service of the counsel."

Nodding in agreement to the question of her name she started "I came her 75 years ago to visit and was summoned by the High Counsel to a meeting. I had no idea what they wanted. When I arrived they said that I had an extreme amount of power and told me of the problem with people taking your fathers stones with out his permission. They asked me to help make sure that the demons doing this did not become a nuisance. If the did I was to eliminate them immediately."

"And your relationship with Sesshomaru, how did that come to be?"

"Not that it's any of your business," she started "Sesshomaru of the High Counsel, was my friend on Alden. We have known each other since childhood. When my mother was killed, he was there for me and a few months later when my father was killed by the same person, he was there for me again. He is my best friend and he always has been.

Just then they arrived in the gardens. He stood to the side and held the door open for her to exit and she gave him a nod as she passed.

"And how did you become so high in rank this quickly," he asked her arching an eyebrow as they continued to walk.

Not sure if she liked where she thought this line of questioning was headed, she replied some what stiffly "They discovered that even without a stone from your father, that I had great powers and abilities."

"So you are the best then? That would explain your some what attractive attire." He glanced out of the corner of his eye in time to catch her bite her tongue. "Meaning, why yours is black and the rest are grey." he continued quickly, chuckling at her obvious discomfort.

Blushing she looked down, suddenly self conscious "This is my required uniform. I don't know if it is attractive or not, but I do know it serves its purpose well."

"And what exactly, is its purpose?" he questioned trying to get further under her skin. He was enjoying the anger she was carefully trying to hide. She was doing a remarkable job at keeping her cool.

"Its purpose," she said stressing the last word, "is for my protection."

"Continue." he said patiently.

"The leather is a high gloss so that if I get blood on it or it gets wet, it becomes slick and hard to hold on to. And the fit is so that the enemy cannot grab onto any loose article of clothing."

As if for demonstration purposes, the two demons hiding in the fall colored leaves jumped out and grabbed for Kagome.

Jumping in front of her, Prince InuYasha started to unsheathed his sword when he was roughly pushed aside and behind by Kagome.

"What do you think your doing!" he yelled indignantly.

"_MY JOB_!" she yelled back and turned back to the two demons towering over her.

"Our business isn't with you Kagome. Stand aside." stated the black haired one. "Our business is with the Prince here."

"He is in my care and if your quarrels' with him, then it's also with me."

"We warned you, bitch! You just _had_ to go and stick your nose where it wasn't welcome." the blond growled and lunged at her.

Kagome easily dodged his swipe and punched him in the throat. As the darker haired approached she turned and kicked him in the face. The blond recovering by then, grabbed her from behind while the first prepared to slash at her stomach with his claws.

As the darker one approached, she used him as leverage and kicked off to flip over the head of the one holding her, neatly releasing herself from his grasp. She landed behind him and looked over at the Prince who was staring at her in awe. "Get back out of the way you fool!" she yelled at him. Not wanting to take his eyes form the show he retreated to just under a tree so he could continue to watch.

Turning back to the task at hand she moved to dodge another swipe from a claw and blocked a hit from the mate to it. The black headed demon scored a hit to her face, knocking Kagome to her back and tried to jump on top of her. At the last moment she rolled to the side and kicked him in the face as he passed over her. The blond watched as she did this and when he thought her to be off balance, tried to kick her legs out from under her. Sensing this, Kagome jumped up at the last moment and kicked him in the head bringing him down with a sickening crunch. He would no longer be in her way.

Turning then to the darker haired demon she blocked another lunge and tripped him as he passed by her. Kagome jumped at the same time he landed, sprawled out on his stomach. She came back down, her knee landing on his neck, snapping it in two.

Kagome bent down to touch both of the bodies and leave her mark. As she stood she pulled out her phone and called the clean up team. "Two assassins in the garden." she said and hung up.

As she walked over to the Prince he asked. "Why did you just touch those two men?'

"I touched them to leave a trail for the cleaners to follow. They come and clean up my messes for me. It also masks them from humans. Most of them don't appreciate the fact that the majority of demons are peaceful. You'd be surprised at the amount of people who think all demons are evil. There are a lot of ancient storied about evil entities that have gotten the name 'demon'. It gives us a bad reputation." Turning away from the bodies, she asked him "Are you ok?" she questioned, wiping a bit of blood from the corner of her mouth.

Growling he turned on her as if suddenly remembering something, "Of course I'm ok, now why the hell did you push me out of the way? I was trying to protect you!"

She bristled "I need no one to protect me! It is my job to protect you!"

"The man is supposed to protect the woman. That's the way it works!" he yelled.

"Yes, but not when the man is a _PRINCE_ and the woman is his _GUARD_!" she yelled back at him. "Remember that for next time!"

"Do you think there _will_ be a next time?" he asked her quietly, more than a little startled.

The cleaners had arrived and started cleaning the mess while staring at the two arguing demons. Glancing over at their audience, Kagome ignored his question "Let's go your Highness."

Prince InuYasha started to walk but stopped when she followed the usual five steps behind. "I told you to stay up here." he demanded, pointing to the spot beside him.

Growling, she stepped forward and they walked back to their rooms  
without another word.

The eyes that had been watching the show from the tree trunk above the Prince's head, took off as the two walked away.

'Those idiots! I can not believe they failed so quickly; I was hoping to wear her down. I need to reconsider my course of action.' the dark figure was now pacing. "I need to be on the inside..." flipping through a book that lay on the desk he quickly found the spell he was looking for and set to work.

Sesshomaru sent for Kagome the next afternoon. "Enter." he said before she could even knock. She smiled inwardly; no, she would never get used to it. She opened the door and stepped in.

"You wished to see me, Sir?" she asked as she bowed.

"Yes, I did. How are you this afternoon Kagome?" he asked her with concern in his voice.

"I'm, Sir." she simply stated.

"Good, the last thing we need is for you to be injured."

She chuckled "Please don't worry about me, I can handle myself. It is Prince InuYasha that you need to worry about. The fool thought he was going to protect me!"

Sesshomaru laughed at that. Kagome was a woman yes, but she was the best fighter in the entire palace. InuYasha was foolish indeed to think she needed help.

"I saw the battle. My chambers faces out over the garden like yours, remember?" Smiling he offered her a seat. "Who do you think is behind this Kagome?

"I'm not sure. I think we may find another clue soon though."

"Tomorrow is the ball in honor of Prince InuYasha's arrival. Do you recommend we postpone until this is over?" he asked her

"No, the Prince was shaken about last night. I do believe that is the first anyone has ever tried to kill him, as unbelievable as that may sound," she chuckled. "I think he needs this ball to take his mind off of it for a while. He hasn't left his room all morning and I was concerned, so went to check on him. He said he was fine and working on some important documents. I'm not so sure he is though. I believe it should go on as scheduled."

"I see. I will be removing you from duty that night, Kagome. You need to have your full attention focused on your surroundings." Sesshomaru closed his eyes and his body dissipated, spreading his aura out over the castle and the grounds, then out over the city. This was the first time Kagome had ever seen Sesshomaru use his special stone from the King. She stood in awe as she watched. A tendril came down and wrapped around her wrist and she gasped.

"So this is how he knows where I am and how I'm feeling all the time." She said in shock. She could feel Sesshomaru laughing at her. Now that she thought about it, she could always feel the tightening around her wrist before a battle but she never thought much of it, till now.

Coming back to his chambers and reforming his body he said "I don't sense a problem, and I usually have at least two days notice to alert the counsel. I can feel something in the distance, but I'm not sure what. We will need to be alert at any rate."

"So, what's the plan now? Kagome asked

"So now you go get a dress." He instructed as they stood and he guided her to the door. "You will accompany me to the ball. I can watch over the festivities and let you know if there is anything that's going to happen." As an after thought he added "You look good in navy blue."

"Thank you, Sir," she blushed as she bowed. She turned and walked to the shops in the lower level of the palace. She hated shopping, but she needed a dress and Sesshomaru would never let her get away with not going.

Later that evening, Prince InuYasha sent for her. "I am sorry to disturb you, but I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night. It was rude of me not to have thanked you for putting yourself in danger to protect me." He said offering her a seat.

Looking shocked and more than slightly uncomfortable, she declined stating "It is my job, Sir; there is no other task at the palace that requires my focus more than this and as long as you're here, it will continue to be so."

"As true as that may be, my behavior towards you last evening was inappropriate and I apologize."

Now truly shocked and speechless she was unsure of what to say next. "Um Sir, is there any thing else you needed me for?" she asked more than a little uncomfortably.

The Prince chuckled as she squirmed under his gaze "No dear, I do believe I have confused you enough. This evening anyway." he added as an afterthought. "I will need to go and pick up my robes for the festivities tomorrow. I shall do so after lunch, so that you may have your morning, Kagome."

"Sir, as I stated before, I am here to serve you. Please do not plan your day around mine."

"Yes, well I spoke with Sesshomaru this morning and he mentioned you will attend the ball tonight as a guest. I'm not sure I like the idea, that it requires two male guards to protect me in the absence of just yourself." he murmered wondering yet again how powerful she really was. "I truly would love to see just how skilled you are. I have a feeling that last night, for you, was like shooing a fly from your face."

Blushing she said "Your father bestowed strength upon me to which I don't even know its limits. I have been interested to find this out for myself. I had thought to ask Sesshomaru to accompany me to the dojo to find out, but I never wanted to bother him with something so trivial. Perhaps one day we will all know."

"Yes, perhaps." Turning to her he nodded and added "I would like to be there to see that. Now you go and get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day and I want to see you bright and refreshed in the afternoon, Sesshomaru's orders also." he added to stay off the comment he knew was on the tip of her tongue.

"Yes Sir," she said bowing and returning to her room.

When she entered the little alcove that contained her door, she almost ran into the demon Miroku, who was waiting for her.

"Miroku, I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing," she mumbled. He was taller than she was by a good foot so she had to look up at him. His black hair was liberally sprinkled with brown highlights. His massive chest and arms said without a word that he was a formidable foe. His bronze skin however said he loved to play...and play he did. Miroku was the biggest playboy in the palace. He always had a swarm of women following him around everywhere he went. Looking into his blue and grey eyes she thought she would drown, and that's how he liked it, for women to fall all over themselves for him. Miroku was gorgeous and he knew it. He used it to his advantage, to get his way, but he knew it didn't work with Kagome. She wouldn't be swayed by any man, and he liked that about her.

Flashing his famous heart wrenching grin he said "Hey that's ok Kagome, you can run into me anytime you like."

Rolling her eyes and opening her door for him, she moved to the side to let him pass. 'Why can I not, just for once, have an average looking friend? Why do they always have to be so damn good looking?' she thought to herself.

Giving that infamous grin again as he stopped in front of her, he said "Because beautiful people attract beautiful people." and continued through the door.

"Miroku!" she yelled after him. "Stay the hell out of my head! How many times do I have to tell you not to read your commanding officers thoughts?"

"I'm sorry Kagome, its just, you looked so beautiful at that moment I wanted to be a part of it." He threw out that damned grin again adding "And apparently, I already was."

Rolling her eyes she gave him the 'You are such a womanizing playboy, why do I even bother to let you hang around 'look she reserved only for him.

"Because I'm so cute and I make you laugh" he said with a smug look on his face.

"_MIROKU!"_

"Hey," he shrugged, holding his hands out in front of him, "I didn't pry! I just know that look and what it means." He walked over and flopped down accost her bed. "You give it to me often enough, every time I remind you that you're a woman."

Turning to look in the mirror she mumbled "I hardly think I need you to remind me of that, Miroku"

"Obviously not." He murmured, using the opportunity to look her over.

Glaring, she walked over to the bed and sat down, leaning against him "Hey, you'd make a good pillow."

"Another reason you keep me around."

Elbowing him in the stomach she asked "Why are you here anyway, not that I mind, I guess. I mean...you're here _all the time_. I'm just curious because it's so late."

"I came to see how it's going with Prince InuYasha. Rumor is, he can give my umm, "talents," a run for their money."

She frowned. "Really, I hadn't heard that he was so annoying." He gave her an indignant look and laughing she smoothed "I don't think you need to worry Miroku, he doesn't fraternize with us little people."

"Oh it wasn't myself I was worried about Kagome. I hear he's interested in you. Well in turning you to a sniveling idiot anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Purely hearsay mind you, but I hear he likes to make his guides cry. It took him a full three days to make the last one. She was a tough one to crack, so they say." he chuckled.

"Where did you hear this from, Miroku?"

"I um, well you see, I uh, kinda, well I met one of his servants in the hall last night." he stammered.

Kagome's eyes widened "Miroku, Please tell me you didn't..."

"Oh, gods no! I didn't touch her! She wanted to but I'm not suicidal. I know the rules and follow 'em Kagome, you don't worry about that!"

"Why is it I never hear this stuff myself?" she asked more to herself than him.

"Yeah well," he said tugging on a lock of her dark hair, "people tend to be a bit tight lipped around you."

"Funny, it doesn't seem to work with you!"

"Yeah, well, you like it and you know it. Besides, who else will take the time to make sure you don't go to long without blushing." He grinned, winking at her.

"Ill go and fix us some tea Miroku, and then you must go home." she groaned getting up. "It's going on midnight."

"Yeah, it is." he arched an eyebrow at her. "All the more reason to sleep right here for tonight, it's such a long walk back to my chambers."

"Its two doors down from mine silly!" she said smacking him in the face with a pillow and walking over to start the tea.

"Yeah, but I may get lost on the way back"

"Ill be sure to send out a search party..."


	4. Meet Prince InuYasha

Chapter 4  
Once upon a time...

Kagome woke in the morning to a gentle tugging on her wrist. Confused, she sat up and looked at it. There was nothing there, but she could feel it getting tighter as she looked at it. 'Sesshomaru' she thought to herself. Just then, the door burst open and he ran in the room with his sword drawn.

"Kagome, get down!" he yelled swinging his sword at her head. She threw herself down on her bed and his sword made contact with something that had been standing behind her, on the other side of her bed. She felt blood splatter on her face as its head dropped down on the bed in front of her. Its cat like eyes stared at her for a second before it let out an animal howl and became still. Kagome jumped up and screamed as the body that the head had been attached to reached out for her as it fell forward. Sesshomaru swung his sword and cut the arms off it before it had a chance to grab her. "Come toward me carefully Kagome, do not touch the body." he told her calmly.

Carefully, she raised herself off of the bed and moved around to Sesshomaru. "What the hell is that, THING?" she asked giving the not quite human body a disgusted look.

"It is a golem used for stealing souls. It skin was imprinted with your aura so if you were to touch it, even now, I would be able to do nothing to save you." Kagome started to shake violently.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Prince InuYasha from behind Kagome. She turned in time to see the Prince and Miroku come running into her room.

"Yes it is." replied Sesshomaru as the Prince reached out and touched Kagome in the small of her back. She collapsed, asleep into his arms.

Turning and handing her to Miroku he said "Don't worry I just put her to sleep. We need to get the blood off of her before it dries. Take her to my room and have my servants quickly draw a bath and make sure they get all of the blood off of her. If they do not, she may still loose her soul. Put her in my bed till she wakes up. She should be out for about two or so hours"

"Yes your Highness." Miroku said and turned to leave.

"Miroku when you are done please come to my chambers. The Prince and I will be waiting there for you." Sesshomaru called after Miroku. Turning back to InuYasha again he said "If my memory serves me correctly, there are two more of these things running around here and they're both after Kagome."

"You are correct. Golems are made in sets of three. There are indeed, two more here in the palace after her and will not rest until they have her, or, are killed. Do you have any idea how they got past you? "

"I do not know. I could not, and still cannot, feel them. I knew this one was here because it was too much of Kagome's aura in the same place; an overload of her aura, if you will. I suppose that is one way to find them." Sesshomaru said. Just then the cleaners arrived. "Make sure you get everything spotless in this room. Lady Kagome's life depends on it."

"Lady? I didn't know she was of the royal court." he said surprised.

"Well, no one knows." he replied. "We keep it quiet because of this reason; I will explain more when Miroku joins us. He will need to hear this too." Turning back to the cleaning crew he said "Don't worry about saving the bed, throw it out and order her a new one. I don't want a trace to this thing in here when you're done. The ceiling and the walls will need washed and painted. Have her clothing brought to my room until we figure this out." Turning, he and InuYasha walked into the hall as Miroku was coming out of the Prince InuYasha's room. "Everything went OK then?" Sesshomaru asked Miroku.

"Yes, sir. She is sleeping soundly in Prince InuYasha's bed. I had her clothing sent to the lab to have it analyzed to see if we can locate anything unusual about the spell on those golems. Maybe we can figure out where the ingrediance came from for the spell. I'm not sure if there is anything obscure in it, but it's worth a try."

InuYasha, who had been staring at the floor, looked at Miroku. "With two more of those golems being on the loose, I believe we should bring Kagome to Sesshomaru's chambers with us. I think we need to keep her close to one of us at all times, until this situation is resolved." Sesshomaru nodded in agreement.

Grinning as he turned to retrieve her, Miroku chuckled. "Kagome is not going to like having a babysitter. This should be fun!" Sesshomaru laughed in agreement and Prince InuYasha was left with a questioning look on his face.

"Just wait." was all Sesshomaru said

Miroku returned with Kagome in his arms. She was wearing the Princes white bath robe; it had slid open at the bottom exposing her leg up to mid thigh. Prince InuYasha arched his eyebrow as he reached over to cover her.

"Sorry your Highness," he started. "It was the only thing your servants had to dress her in."

"Oh, it's quite alright." he said. "It's very becoming on her."

They turned and quickly walked the short distance to Sesshomaru's chambers. Opening the door for Miroku, Sesshomaru indicated for Miroku to place Kagome on his bed. As he did so, Miroku couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy because it wasn't his bed she would be sleeping in. He knew the three of them were supposed to be just friends, but on more than several occasions, Miroku had wished for something more. He knew Sesshomaru did too, but wasn't sure exactly how much. Who wouldn't? Even now, as she lay there with her wet hair and pale face, she was gorgeous and his heart ached for her. Turning reluctantly away, he went to take a seat accost from InuYasha.

"Who is it that sent those golems after Kagome?" InuYasha asked Sesshomaru

"When Kagome was nine, her mother and farther were powerful demons on your fathers' court, Lady Olivia and Lord Payton." The Prince nodded, remembering them. "A human named Stark found out that with thee strong souls, a human can become a demon and become immortal. We didn't know this was possible at the time. Since, we have done research on it and even though it is a complicated process, it can be done. Stark discovered that Kagome's parents were powerful and they had a daughter that was slightly more powerful than each of them, even at her young age.

"Stark had found the perfect situation. Family ties would be stronger than strangers' souls. He waited patiently for her seventeenth year and four months before her eighteenth birthday, I had been on my way to see Kagome and I found her mother dead in the garden. Kagome was devastated, but not so much as she would be two months later when she would find her father dead also. She was heart broken but unfortunately, I had been sent to earth a few weeks earlier so wasn't able to comfort her this time.

"Your father," he said indicating to InuYasha," sent her to Earth to spend a few weeks with me. However once she arrived, he had discovered that his power stones had come up missing. Knowing how powerful she was, he ordered me to keep her here to recover the stones and so I would be able to protect her. We thought Stark wouldn't be able to find her to finish the collection of the third and final soul, but apparently, we were incorrect. After many years he has come back."

Miroku asked "If this Stark character is human, how is it that he was able to stay alive this long? Shouldn't he have died long ago?"

"It's the souls of her parents." Sesshomaru explained. "He has used them to keep himself alive this entire time, until he could find her again. With the distraction of the Prince here, this was the perfect time to come after her unnoticed."

InuYasha looked at Sesshomaru. "So the attack on me in the garden the other night was actually meant for Kagome?"

"No, it was meant for you. He was making sure that we were using all of our energy, and hers, to protect you. It was a clever ploy that almost worked. We need to make sure that Kagome is never more than a few feet away from any of the three of us at any given moment." Miroku and Sesshomaru both chuckled at this.

"Um, yes, I still don't see what is so funny about that." InuYasha stated.

Bringing himself under control Miroku explained, "Kagome is a proud and independent woman who values her freedom and privacy. She accepts help from no one, and in normal circumstances, doesn't need it. She isn't going to be happy about this at all."

"Happy about what?" Kagome asked sitting slowly up in bed; feeling as though she had twenty bricks sitting on her chest.

Surprised, all three men looked at their watches then back to the rising beauty. Her dark hair, slightly messed, and rosy cheeks only added to her appeal. InuYasha managed to get his voice back first. "You should have slept for at least another hour and a half! You needed time for your skin to recover from the poison that golem blood has in it."

Looking at her arm, she found nothing wrong. "Except for the feeling of bricks on my chest, I feel fine."

"Sorry about that. It should pass in a few moments. I used a pressure point to knock you out."

Nodding in understanding she repeated her question. "Happy about what?"

The three men looked at each other and smiled. InuYasha thought to himself 'Oh yes, this would be fun after all.'

"You want to what?" Kagome asked Sesshomaru coolly.

Sesshomaru almost couldn't hide his smile as he watched her. He couldn't help but to think it was funny as he remembered her reaction at being forced to keep an eye on InuYasha. "We have no choice here Kagome, Stark is after you again." His voice lost its laughter. "If he succeeds this time...we will not be able to save you. It just takes one touch Kagome and you are lost to us. We will not be able to find him before he completes the ceremony for your soul."

Kagome sighed and asked, "So, how do we do this then? Who stays with me when; and when will I have some privacy? I need to have my personal time."

"You will sleep here for tonight, I will sleep on the sofa," he said pointing across the room. "I can give you space and still be able to get to you from there. Miroku will escort you one day and I will speak to Christopher about doing so the next."

Prince InuYasha cleared his throat and spoke up. "Seeing as how Kagome was kind enough to watch out for my well being these last few days, and now that I'm the one out of danger, I'll be more than happy to help out in any way I can. I will even be willing to take Christopher's place; after all, I don't want to loose her skills before I even get to sit on the council."

Sesshomaru and Miroku looked at the Prince and all three laughed at his gentle jab at Kagome and her attitude towards "babysitting" him. Turning back towards Kagome, the laughter stopped instantly. Kagome was sitting with her arms wrapped around herself, softly crying.

All three men felt their hearts break in that same instant; she was such a pitifully beautiful sight. Miroku went to her and pulled her into his lap as he sat down. "Hey, Kagome, don't cry! It's gonna be fine, you'll see. He's not gonna get to you, I promise."

"It's not that, I just don't want to be a burden on anyone. You all have to rearrange your lives for me and I hate that! I don't want to be any trouble for anyone. I can take care of myself. I don't need anyone to follow me around." she sobbed.

"Of course you don't, but we just want to make sure nothing happens to you. I would be heart broken for...four or five minuets if anything were to. Just think of us as little puppies." Miroku replied casually.

Kagome chuckled at that. "Can I put leashes on you?"

InuYasha laughed. This place was looking better and better all the time and he was glad his father had sent him here. He was afraid that he would be bored out of his mind but Kagome alone was enough to entertain him for a lifetime. He was so sure he would have her in tears by the end of the first day but here it was the third; she was crying, but her tears had not been caused by him and oddly enough, he didn't think he could bear it if they had been.

"Ok, enough of my blubbering. I need some fresh air." she sniffed, standing. "Umm... perhaps I need some clothing first." she adding noticing for the first time since she woke that she was naked except for a robe that clearly didn't belong to her. Blushing, she asked "Where is my clothing by the way?"

"You were covered in the golem's blood from head to toe. The blood is poisonous, were surprised you recovered today. It should have made you very sick for quite a few days; we're at a loss as to why this isn't the case with you, Kagome. I had Miroku take you to my room to have my servants bathe you, and you were dressed in my robe to be moved here." InuYasha answered her.

"I have had your clothing brought here Kagome; as this is where you will be staying for now. Your room will take several days, perhaps a week to be cleaned properly and you are not to enter it until I say so. If you require something, one of the three of us will retrieve it for you after it has been cleaned." Sesshomaru warned as he brought her over to the clothing rack that was set up in the middle of his dressing room.

"Thank you for everything, Sesshomaru," she whispered, hugging him.

"Just do as I say and we will see you safely through this. I promised the King and your father to protect you and that is what I am going to do," he said hugging her back.

Kagome returned dressed and looking refreshed several minuets later. "I can't seem to locate my sword. Is it still in my room?"

"Ah, yes. Shippo, will you please retrieve it for Lady Kagome? I believe she keeps it in the large mahogany wardrobe on the top shelf. You may leave all of the polishing items; she can use mine. Have one of the cleaners open the cabinet for you and do not touch anything but her sword. You would contaminate it if you were to do so." Bowing to Sesshomaru the red headed man ran to retrieve it.

Turning back to Kagome Sesshomaru noticed her sudden discomfort. "I have made arrangements for Shippo to return home for a much need visit with his family while you are staying with me. I know having him around makes you uncomfortable, and if he wasn't so valuable in saving me time by running my errands, I wouldn't have him. But I have so many things to do..."

"Yes I understand," she interrupted him. "I really don't mind him though; he's so quiet you hardly know he's here. You didn't have to send him away. I just really haven't had the chance to get to know him yet." Sesshomaru only smiled at her.

Walking to the window, Kagome gasped, "OH! It's so beautiful! When did it snow?" The world was covered in a thick, sparkling, white blanket. The trees were drooping under the weight of it and dusting the world anew every time a breeze whispered through their branches.

Miroku went to stand beside Kagome and InuYasha and Sesshomaru followed him.

"Would you like me to take you outside for a bit? You mentioned needing some fresh air, and it wouldn't problem for any of us or all of us to escort you." Miroku told her and the other two men nodded in agreement.

Smiling she said "Yes that would be nice, but later this evening. I need something to eat right now, its mid afternoon and I haven't eaten since last night." The men had forgotten about food in light of the more serious issues at hand.

Just then Shippo returned with Kagome's sword. "Lady Kagome," he said bowing with the sword held out in front of him as if it was an offering of peace.

"Thank you Shippo. How does my room look?" she asked him quietly, taking her sword.

Glancing quickly out of the corner of his eye he caught Sesshomaru slightly shake his head no. Had it been anyone other than Shippo, it would have gone unnoticed. So, Sesshomaru didn't want him to say anything; that was wise. The gore was terrible in there. The cleaners, used to seeing things such as this on a regular basis, were visibly upset. Having it be in Kagome's bedroom was even worse for them. 'It seems everyone likes Kagome.' He thought. "It looks fine Lady Kagome; the cleaners should be done in a little over a week."

She smiled at him. She knew he was lying and she knew why. She could read Sesshomaru better than anyone. It also didn't help that when she had asked the question, his aura around her wrist tightened ever so slightly. Had she not been focused, she would have never noticed it.

Turning and smiling at the men behind her she said in the most cheery voice she could muster "How about some food now?" and turned to leave or the dining hall. The men turned to follow her and Sesshomaru dismissed Shippo until he was summoned from his family again.

After grabbing a bite to eat they headed back to Sesshomaru's chambers. Getting comfortable, Sesshomaru glanced at the other two men in the room. "Tonight, I will be escorting Kagome to the ball however; I have some business to attend to before and during the ball. I believe the two of you should accompany us as she will need at least the both of you to keep people from crowding her. Too many people around her would not be a good thing; the golems could be disguised as anyone. Prince InuYasha, you will need to guard her on your own for a bit. Miroku has business to attend to with me. His introduction to the palace can not be disregarded."

"Speaking of which," added Kagome, "You only have three hours till the ball. You should probably go and attend to those last minuet things. You were worried about something yesterday, has that been solved?"

"No, that is one of the things that I had to take care of and I had completely forgotten. Thank you for reminding me." he replied, getting up to leave.

"Yes, well I forgot, I need to go and retrieve my dress. I asked the seamstress to make some adjustments to it at the last minuet."

Turning back, Sesshomaru arched an eyebrow at Kagome, "Yes, I know. I saw the dress you chose; I also had some adjustments made to it. I knew I should have gone with you to pick it out. You have a nasty little habit of downplaying your beauty and that is tragic. I have already had your dress delivered while we were eating." He said pointing to the garment bag she had failed to notice before, hanging on the wall of the dressing room. "The plain black taffeta did nothing for your beauty. I prefer this one much better. I also had Prince InuYasha send over his servants with his things. He will stay with you for now and his servants have been instructed of what to do with you until I return. You will not argue with me on this." He said when he could see her getting ready to argue about using servants; especially InuYasha's.

She could only nod as he turned to leave and the servants came in. They whisked her into the bathing and dressing room and that was the last time the two reaming men would see of her for almost two and a half hours.

"Well, I will go and see to security details. As much as I feel I need to be here, I have taken over Kagome's job until she returns and I intend to do it just as well as she would. I'll return soon, with Sesshomaru to relieve you."

As Miroku turned to leave InuYasha called to him, "Hey, don't worry about me, just make sure everyone knows about Kagome. I can take care of myself, but she can't even fight them on her own." Miroku knew that "them" meant the golems.

"You can count on it." Miroku replied and left InuYasha to his thoughts.

Sesshomaru and Miroku came back two hours later. "I'm glad to see the two of you! My girls have been in there forever with Kagome and every time I ask if everything's ok in there, they just laugh at me. Kagome hasn't said a word since she went in. I have a feeling she's not happy with you Sesshomaru.

"About five minuets ago, while I was getting dressed myself, I heard them gasp and yell. It scared me and I nearly fell over putting on my pants. I ran over to see if they were ok and I could hear them laughing and talking about Kagome's dress. All I heard from her was an "Oh no!" and the girls started talking loudly all at once. I'm sure this cant be good."

Just then the changing room door opened and Kagome stepped out. All three men could do nothing but stare. "Sesshomaru, I can not wear this! This is just to, to...nice for me."

Sesshomaru just shook his head. The dress he had custom made for her was everything he imagined it to be. The navy blue satin brought out the brown streaks in her black hair while the silver beading sewn to the tight bodice brought out the gold flecks in her brown eyes. The full skirt showed off her tiny waist. Her hair was piled on top of her head; locks of curls escaping their imprisonment of the tiny jeweled barrettes that held it in palace grazed her bare shoulders. She looked like a raven haired porcelain doll and she was beautiful.

Sesshomaru regained his senses and walked over to the desk pulling out a large black velvet box. "This should look quite nice with that dress." he said opening the box and showing her the sapphire and diamond necklace and matching bracelet inside.

"Oh!" she gasped "It's beautiful! But I couldn't. It's just to fancy for someone like me."

"On the contrary, _Lady Kagome_", InuYasha began, stressing his reminder of who she really was. "You are more than worthy of such beautiful things. Sesshomaru has excellent taste when it comes to you...and what is appropriate for you." He finished taking the necklace from the box Sesshomaru held and moving behind Kagome to put it on her. His hand accidentally grazed the skin on the back of her neck and he could see the small shiver that ran down her spine. He smiled 'I'm going to have to remember that for later'. He reached out and took the bracelet from the box and grabbed for her wrist. She looked up at him and blushed.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just not used to all this attention." InuYasha's smile faded ever so slightly, but not enough for anyone to notice, or so he hoped I see that it wasn't because of me then.' InuYasha was starting to see things differently now. This was a challenge for him and Kagome had just turned herself into the prize. Ill just have to change that then.' he thought releasing her wrist.

Miroku and Sesshomaru looked at each other; they had seen InuYasha's reaction to Kagome and her comment. Sesshomaru gave Miroku a 'this cant be good look' and Miroku gave a 'tell me about it' head shake. Both men smiled at each other then; they knew that they were just jealous but neither had any intention of saying anything to InuYasha. He was just going to have to learn the hard way.

Still grinning from ear to ear, Miroku stepped forward with Kagome's wrap. "You really do look beautiful, Kagome. I hope you save me a dance tonight," he joked with her.

"I hope she saves us all a dance this evening." Sesshomaru said as he took her arm and led her out the door with the other two demons following behind.


	5. The Unexpected

Chapter 5  
The Unexpected

"Lady Kagome, with all of the excitement the last few days, I had forgotten to find an escort to the ball, and I do need one. Would it be too much of an inconvenience for you if I were to escort you instead of Sesshomaru?" Prince InuYasha asked her.

"Yes, Kagome, I think it is a good idea." Sesshomaru began. "If you are with the Prince, I will feel better knowing you won't be left alone at any point in time. Miroku and I had just been talking about the times you would have been. We were both concerned about that lapse and this seems to be a perfect solution."

"If you think that is best, Sesshomaru." turning to the Prince "I will accompany you."

InuYasha was interrupted from his response by Bret "Perhaps then, since you don't need to be here for another thirty minuets, it would be nice for you to escort Kagome through the gardens. I feel bad I didn't have the chance to do it earlier."

"That's ok, Miroku." Kagome comforted, reaching out to place a hand on his chest. "You were busy; I understand completely. I should like Prince InuYasha to walk with me, if he's willing."

"It would be my pleasure, my dear," he said stepping to the side to let her pass. She stopped five steps behind him slightly to his right. "Haven't we already been through this?" he asked extending his arm to her.

Blushing, she quickly came to stand at his side and fumbled trying to position her hand in the proper place on his arm. InuYasha laughed as he grasped her hand and placed it in the crook of his arm. "We should really work on your court manners Lady Kagome. They need a brush up."

"Well, "she bristled. "I haven't been on a court since I was a little girl. You can't expect me to just know what to do now can you?"

"I suppose not, although you seem to be a quick study. I bet you could pick it up again quickly."

Just then they came to the outer doors to the courtyard and stopped at the cloak rack. It had been placed there earlier that day for visitors to the courtyard to grab a cape before stepping out side. The walkway had already been cleared of snow and the air was still and nice.

Draping a cloak around first Kagome's shoulders and then his, he held the door open for her to pass out into the yards.

"Oh it's beautiful!' Kagome gasped. The staff had strung clear lights around the paths and trees for tonight. The lights glinting off the snow made the world around them sparkle and glint like the jewels around Kagome's neck.

She ran forward and danced circles in the snow that had just started falling. The flakes collected in her hair and the clips that sparkled along with them looked like a glorious crown.

Well, if that's not a sign from the gods, I don't know what is.' InuYasha thought to himself.

"I love the snow;" she said coming back to stand with InuYasha, "it makes the world clean and fresh. Everything is pure in the snow."

InuYasha reached up and brushed the snow carefully out of Kagome's hair and placed her cape hood up carefully so it wouldn't mess it. "You should have this up so you don't catch a cold. We can't have you getting sick now can we; although, it would make it easier to keep an eye on you if you were always in one spot."

Kagome's face fell at the thought of having babysitters. She really hated having to depend on people for help, especially the Prince. He had many other things to concern himself with than the safety of one lowly executioner. She sighed and continued walking down the path catching InuYasha off guard. "I know that you have better things to do Your Highness, than to baby sit me. I wouldn't hold it against you if you were to tell Sesshomaru that you needed out."

"Why on earth would I do that? I'm perfectly capable of keeping you company, unless you don't care for my company..." he stated, catching up to her, looking more than a little hurt.

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings!" she gasped. "I just think you have more important things to do than watch over me."

InuYasha opened his mouth to answer her when a glowing light and static electricity filled the air, it becoming so thick with a massive aura and authority, that Kagome would have fallen to her knees had InuYasha not reached out to catch her. When the light dissipated, the Demon King was standing before them; a gentle looking man, small in stature, friendly, sparkling eyes The whole image before her completely false. InuYasha bowed to his father as Kagome did the same.

"What brings you here father?" InuYasha asked more than a little surprised.

"What, I can't check in on my favorite son every then and again?" he chuckled back.

"Father, I'm your only son." he said with an eye roll.

The King laughed a big belly laugh, "That you are InuYasha; that you are. So who is your lovely companion?" knowing full well who she was. Some times his son needed to be reminded of his manners.

"This is the Lady Kagome, Lord Payton's daughter." InuYasha blushed over his lack of manners.

"My dear, "The king said as he bowed to kiss her hand, "you look a mirror image of your mother."

"Thank you your Majesty, that means a lot to me" Kagome said, blushing.

"Lady Olivia was always found in good favor, as will be you dear. There is no need for formalities in private. You may call me Dimitri; were practically family, since yours died. I'm sorry I never got a chance to speak with you about that before I sent you away. Your safety was far more important than condolences at that time." he said softly, dropping her hand back to her side.

Just then another flash of light appeared next to Dimitri and as the light faded, another strong, formidable demon stood beside him, radiating another aura so strong, Rekio unconsciously took a half a step backwards. His looks rivaled that of InuYasha and the Kings.

Bowing deeply he took her hand in his "Ah, Lady Kagome, I presume?" his voice reverberating off the court yard walls, bringing just as much awe to her expression as the kings appearance had.

"Y-yes, How do you do?" she replied, bowing shakily.

"This is my advisor, Geoff." The king chuckled. Turning to him, "You could tone it down a bit you know, we don't want to alert the entire castle to our presence."

"WHAT!" Geoff cried indignantly, "Yours is TWICE what mine is!"

The king laughed heartily at this. "That's because I...am the king."

Geoff rolled his eyes and Kagome could feel him drawing himself back in.

Suddenly, the courtyard doors burst open and a half a dozen guards, Miroku and Sesshomaru ran through. Looking up suddenly to see who the overbearing auras belonged to, the latter two skidded to a halt, bowing deeply.

The king and Geoff laughed as one of the guards almost fell over in effort to stop from running into the back of Sesshomaru in confusion.

Kagome could feel the power surge through her body as she turned in time to see the diminutive, gentle man who was the king, turn into the most formidable demon she had ever laid eyes on.

He swelled up to twice his previous height, muscles swelling in his once unimpressive arms. His hair, flowing halfway down his back in black and maroon locks, pulled back into a crisp ponytail at the base of his neck. His previously gentile eyes still held the same warmth, but now glittered with an unmistakable authority and in an awe inspiring shade of emerald green with what she could of swore were specks of silver. His skin darkened from the pale to a glorious shade of golden tan. The black cape that was draped around his shoulders looked as if it was made of a skin of sorts. Then he released his aura.

The entire court yard quaked in silent power as the waves reverberated through the garden. The trees, swaying in respect, plants bowing under awe, and birds singing, were spreading the news of the arrival of the king.

The guards standing behind Miroku and Sesshomaru fell prostrate on the ground, basking in the sensation that was the Demon King.

"You're Majesty!" Kagome managed to squeak out before fainting.

The king reached out and caught her before she hit the snow covered ground. Looking up he shot his son a questioning glance before looking back to the beauty he held in his arms. "What happened to her, why is she fainting from something so simple?"

"She was attacked by a golem earlier today and it seems she's still a bit weak from it." "A golem! Who would do such a thing to such a lovely creature?" Geoff gasped in dismay.

"It seems our friend, Stark, has found her once again." Sesshomaru replied, walking up with Miroku.

The Kings eyes blazed with a fire that was unmistakable. "Where. Is. He?"

The king had left the man alone after the last battle, not being a cruel ruler and thinking him smart enough to not return. Apparently he had been mistaken, and that was not a good thing. The king was not fond of being wrong, he was rarely, if ever wrong and when he was wrong, the situation was repaired immediately. But this, this was beyond the limits of even the Kings forgiving nature.

"At the moment, Your Majesty, we don't know. There have been two attacks on us; one on Prince InuYasha and the other this morning on Kagome.

InuYasha, noticing the growing crowd of spectators, reached over to lift Kagome out of his father's arms, but was stopped by a guttural growl emanating subconsciously from his father. Kagome had that affect on every one she met it seemed. The overwhelming desire to protect her caught a hold of even his father and he refused to let go.. Touching him lightly on the arm to bring him back to the present, the king snapped out of his anger filled trance and reluctantly handed Kagome to his son.

"I will take her back to the room and we will join you later this evening. I'm sure your presence here far overshadows mine anyway." he teased, winking to his father as he walked back to Sesshomaru's room carrying the sleeping beauty. "Ill send for the doctor and as soon as she wakes and when she's cleared, we'll be down."

Sesshomaru nodded in approval before returning his attention to the advisor, seeing the king still wasn't feeling all that sociable at the moment.

"Geoff, how have you faired all these years?" Sesshomaru greeted his old friend with a hand shake. "Absolutely wonderful till just these few minuets. Our king is most unpleased at the evening's most recent development and I'm sure to catch hell for it later!"

The King, waking out of the wonderful daydream he was having about Stark, reached to shake Sesshomaru's hand. "How are things with you, My Friend? Other than the obvious, that is."

"It's been rough for the past few weeks. That poor girl has had enough tragedy in her life to last five lifetimes, and it just keeps coming."

"She's a lovely girl; her parents were among my closest friends. It was a great loss for me to have had to send her away. Now what is this I hear about a party?"

The King spread his arms open wide to start to usher everyone inside before stopping and turning to Geoff, "I want to know where Stark is. Find him so I may kill him; slowly, and in the most painful way imaginable."

Nodding, Geoff followed the king in. Seeing Stark again wasn't something he was looking forward to.


	6. Friends Come and Friends Go

Chapter 6  
Friends Come and Friends Go

There was a shift in the energy; he could feel the electricity in the air even this far away from the Palace. Some one he never wanted to see again had just come to Earth for a visit. Stark's mood sunk to a new low as Geoff, his friend from Alden, had just made his presence known. Stark paced furiously around the room. "Of all the...How can he just show...Who the hell does he think he is! That bastard! He's going to ruin everything."

He stalked to his desk and threw himself in the plush leather chair, fuming. This wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to be here. Why now, he was SO close.

There was a faint hum from the desk comforting him and drawing him into a quiet cocoon of silence and comfort. The hum slipped into his head and wrapped itself around his mind, taking all control.

"There, that's better. Stupid humans can't trust them to anything with out flying off the handle at the slightest detour from plan." Focusing its attention on the current situation at hand, "How lovely, now we can have a reunion. We never did get to say goodbye properly, did we Geoff?"

"Hey Stark, wait up!" A voice called from behind.

Turning to stop for the voice that he recognized as his best friend Geoff, Stark waited patiently, noting the spark of excitement in the oncoming demons eyes.

Geoff and he had been friends since Stark had moved to the Castle City Compounds or CCC for short. He had been touring the Compounds when some palace guards started picking on him...

"Hey human, what do you think you're doing here? This ain't no place for the likes of you. Think you're gonna come in and taint our women with your inferior blood?" The first guard sneered

"Heh, any woman here would rip that kid apart for even looking at her! Aren't you supposed to be back in the servants entrance anyway?" the second poking him in the chest with a spear.

"I don't want any trouble, "Stark said, holding his hands in the air. "I just came to explore the Compound. I moved here for business a few days ago and wanted to get to know the city a bit, that's all. I'm sorry if I stepped on anyone's toes" Noting with chagrin that those two demons had elected not to wear shoes on their huge feet.

"Hey, you being a smart ass? That ain't to smart for a smart ass." the first said, moving behind Stark.

"You humans think you can just go where you please, its scum like you that drove us her in the first place. WE could be on Earth right now, but NO, we were the better species and left because it made you humans 'uncomfortable' to have us around and didn't want to try and get along. So we all get shipped to this place, where we won't be seen by the likes of you. Now, how do you think that makes us feel?" the second asked, poking his spear a bit harder into Starks chest, coming dangerously close to impaling this human the longer he was forced to look at him.

"You know," the first one said, looking at the second with a look of pure hatred spreading across his face. "I don't like the way this little human's makin' me feel. I think we should just kill him now and be done with this icky feeling he given me"

"Hey guys, how's it going?" A handsome young demon asked from behind guard one, hands in his pockets, looking casual as nothing was happening at all.

The two demons immediately snapped to attention and saluted the higher ranking lad, looking a bit flustered at being caught harassing the human population.

The new comer had a friendly, gentile face, kind eyes, and an easy stance that just oozed aristocracy. He was truly, a kind soul. How he demanded respect from these soldiers so easily, Stark had no idea, but was going to find out.

"Uh...it's going great...SIR!" Number One said nervously, knowing full well that it was illegal to harass humans in Alden. The penalty was death and the guard wasn't too happy about getting caught by this man.

Stark looked over to the new comer, only to find him looking back. "Alls well then...I'm sorry, what is your name?"

"Stark, sir"

"Ah, Stark, then everything is well with you then" he asked again.

"Yes, Sir, these gentlemen were just trying to give me suggestions on activities a human new comer could do to entertain himself in this city, but alas, they could think of nothing a human would be interested in doing in the end." Stark said, a bit more sarcastically than he had meant to.

A low growl rose from the throat of the second guard and was quieted immediately by a glance from the new comer. "Is there something you wish to say to this...Stark, Jengo?"

"Perhaps he thought of some activity more suited to humans for me to do?" Stark nudged the situation a little further.

The guard wisely held his tongue, not being too fond of the thought of it being cut out of his mouth.

He was going to like this Stark fellow." I may have something to interest a human. Come with me." He turned and started walking toward the palace, leaving two fuming guards behind.

"I'm sorry Sir, but I didn't catch your name."

"Oh, so sorry it's Geoff. I'm the assistant to the king's advisor..."

Stark had never seen the man so excited in all the years they had been friends. What could possibly be so exciting to this normally controlled and suave man?

Stark had always been jealous about the way Geoff had gotten all the girls, human and non. Geoff had excelled as the assistant and was brilliant as the apprentice.

Just at that moment, Geoff had caught up. "Gregory has retired as advisor, I'm up! I'm the new advisor!"

"New Advisor? What happened to make Gregory retire? I thought he was still young."

"He is, but after so long, the King wants fresh people in office. Gregory has been Advisor for...this will have been his 1500th year. The king just decided he had enough and sent for him. He didn't take the news too well; until he realized that he could go on a vacation now!" Geoff felt bad for Greg, but he had served the longest out of the Advisors so far. One day, the people would decided the King was done being king and then they would elect a new one. But so far, the people were fond of their king and showed no signs of electing another for a few thousand more.

"So, were not going to be seeing much of each other anymore are we?" Stark asked, with a slight frown on his face.

"Well, it's not like I'm going to fall of the face of Alden! Ill just be spending a lot more time with the king is all."

"Sometimes, I wish I could work at the palace, other than a servant. You're so lucky to have been born a demon and not a stupid human" Thinking back to his first time in the city again. His face was so sad and crestfallen that Geoff didn't know what to say, so he left Stark to be alone with his thoughts, which turned out to be a mistake.

He's leaving me behind! What the hell am I gonna do now?' Those two guards had never forgotten the punishment they had gotten when Geoff had relayed message that humans weren't receiving the best treatment. He wouldn't survive long, that's for sure.

Walking, not knowing or caring where he was going, his feet moved on their own. As if being called, summoned, controlled. He had no recollection of going to the library, walking through the doors, meandering his way through the maze of shelves and then finally ending up in a long abandoned corner of the library. He didn't know when he had picked up the dusty book or when he had opened it, but when the trance finally wore off, he was looking at a spell to turn humans to demons. He stood and stared at the spell for hours, long beyond closing time. He stood through the night and well into the next morning, staring at the spell till he had every sentence, every word, every letter, every stroke of the pen memorized. He picked the book up and weakly walked out the doors with it. Never even stopping at the front desk to check it out.

Walking back to the palace room that Geoff had acquired for him, he never took his eyes from the charcoal colored binding of the book. It had no name, no decorations nothing on the out side that even gave a hint as to what treasure lay inside the cover. No gold lettering, nothing. But still, the book shone with a pearl grey light that made the eyes of the holder sparkle with the same fascinating light.

It took years of planning and setting things in motion, but in the end, it would be worth it. He would be a demon and be immortal. No one would pick on him, the women wouldn't reject him, and maybe one day, he could even be king. Perhaps the king part was pushing it too far, but he didn't care. He was going to be a demon and there wasn't anything or anyone that was going to stop him.

At first, he balked at the idea of killing people to obtain what he needed, but he continued to research it and discovered that there was a way he could whittle the lives lost down to three. What were three little insignificant lives lost to immortality? Not much, that's for sure. One day, he would be king and nothing was going to stop him now.

Little did Stark realize the beautiful book had taken complete control over his life. He ceases to come to dinner anymore, opting to eat in his quarters. He never spoke to anyone, and when he did go out, it was only to get more ingredience for another spell he was practicing on.

Stark had become some thing that worried Geoff. He didn't like to see his friend in that condition, so went to check on him after he hadn't seen him in almost three weeks. Before he could knock on the door, a page was stopping him.

"Sir, "the little demon gasped, out of breath, "The King requires you. Lady Olivia was just found dead at the manor."

Geoff followed the page back to the king, never knowing that Stark was watching from the shadows, a small smile of satisfaction from knowing Olivia's death had been for his gain. After all, one must be willing to sacrifice themselves for the betterment of society, right?

A few months later, when Lord Payton was found dead, Geoff had become suspicious. Two deaths since Stark had undergone his "transformation" was too weird for him. He needed to know what was going on.

He knocked on Starks door, and when no one answered, he kicked in the door. The stench was unbearable. Herbs and potions left to boil over into each other didn't make a pleasing aroma.

Geoff walked over to open the window, and just as he was about to walk away, a faint glimmer caught his eye. There was a book on the desk, trying its hardest; it seemed, to be inconspicuous. Had it not been using its powers to conceal the soul that just floated into the room, he never would have noticed it.

Walking slowly over to it, he saw the spell for soul stealing. Shaking he turned around to see Stark standing in the door way.

"You can't have possibly thought you could get away with this! What are you thinking, stealing people's souls? YOU CAN'T!"

"I can and I did, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." Stark turned and fled the room, running down the hall before Geoff could do anything but gape after him. Smiling as he turned down another hall and hid in an alcove, he waited till Geoff and the guards had passed before he back tracked to pick up the book and the souls.

He ran out of the room, just as the King had arrived. "Oh, hello Stark, what's all the commotion about?"

"I'm not sure your majesty, Geoff just went crazy on this poor kid and started chasing him through the halls." Bowing to the King, "I'm sorry sir, but I'm late for another appointment."

The King dismissed him and turned to the hall when he caught a faint glimmer from Stark just as he was headed out the door. About to follow him, he heard Geoff call out after him. "Your majesty, Stark is the killer! Stop him!" But by then, it was too late. Stark had disappeared into a crowd and was never again seen in Alden.

The book slowly released its grip on Starks mind enough to let thoughts of Kagome in. She was the key to the rest of the story. He needed three powerful souls to bring the spell together and she was the third. It's a shame he had to kill her. She was a beauty beyond anything he had ever seen. Stark had almost felt sorry for the little girl at the funeral of both her parents. Call it something close to regret, but he wanted to be there when they put the parents in the ground. Looking around, he caught his first glimpse of Kagome. She was so lovely; he had second thoughts about taking her life. A sharp pain shot through his head, and that was the last thing he remembered. He found himself here, on Earth the next time he snapped out of it.

Walking back to the window, he froze. There was a stronger aura than the first. One that made him sway on his feet, one that belonged to the King. Starks face paled and the book took over again. It was having to do that more and more often now it seemed.

"Calm down you idiot. If you panic now, they're sure to discover us." It was useless though. Stark didn't have a strong enough mind for both he and the book to be in control, so couldn't hear. It's a shame; the book wasted some of his best insults on a catatonic imbecile.

It walked Stark back to the desk, pausing to admire itself laying there, Beautiful charcoal cover with bright gold writing starting to appear. Closing Starks eyes, running his fingers over the raised lettering of the words Book of Souls just beginning to show its self.

"Not too much longer now, Stark, till I can have complete control of your body and you'll be none the wiser. When the letters come, you will go. Stupid human, you think immortality is going to be SO wonderful, but how wonderful will it be in the prison of your own mind?"

Bone chilling laughter echoed down the ally.


	7. When You Assume Things

Chapter 7

When You Assume Things...

InuYasha carried Kagome to Sesshomaru's room and carefully opened the door trying not to drop her. Her feather light body wasn't the problem; it was that damn dress of hers. The material was slick and the skirt got in his way every time he reached for the knob. Finally getting it open, he kicked it closed again with a frustrated sigh.

Laying her on the bed, he unfastened the cape from around her neck and slipped off her shoes. She rolled over in her sleep, tucking her hands up under her chin and shivered slightly. Frowning, InuYasha pulled the covers up over her. He wanted to protect this woman; he wanted to make sure that nothing ever harmed her again. Stark would pay for what he did to her and her family.

Sitting on the bed, he brushed a stray curl away from her face and as his finger tips grazed the side of her cheek, she sighed and snuggled deeper into the pillow. She was beautiful and he was infatuated with her.

Standing, he crossed the massive room to the window. She was different than the rest of the guides he had. The rest of the girls had been all about his title and their chances of latching on to that. Kagome was different from them. She didn't care about his title, hell she probably didn't even care about him. He was just another assignment for her, a thorn in her side. He sighed, slipping his hand in his pocket and leaning against the window. The courtyard sparkled below with the twinkling of the little lights in the trees.

He could still see her dancing in the snow, the flakes falling and gently gathering in her hair like a crown. She was his queen, his ice queen. He arched an eyebrow; would he ever be able to convince her that he was worth opening up to? Probably not, but he was going to try like hell to convince her. He sighed, settling deeper in his thoughts, trying fruitlessly to convince himself that she really wasn't worth the effort, worth the risk to his own heart.

She had Miroku doting after her and who knew what was going on between her and Sesshomaru; that relationship was definitely was more than met the eye. How could he compete with them and who knew how many other guys that would give up their left arms to be with her? 'Am I even worthy of her?'

She slowly opened her eyes and looked around the dark room room. The last thing she remembered was meeting the king; so, why was she back in Sesshomaru's bed? She rolled her head to the side; it felt like it was going to explode. Sitting up on her elbow, she reached up to touch the side of her head when she saw a movement by the window. His black tuxedo blended in so well with the dark curtains that if he hadn't shifted slightly, she would have missed him completely. He looked so sad, leaning against the glass with his hand in his pocket and the other tracing a pattern she couldn't quite make out on the glass. His hair shimmering with the lights from the courtyard cast an unnatural glow about him, framing him, his chiseled outline in a snowy backdrop. Her headache almost forgotten, she carefully got out of bed and crossed the room to the window.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, not even turning around, chuckling at the way she jumped.

His reflection in the window showed a grinning man; nothing like what she saw a few seconds before. Any trace of the deep sadness he had shown before was gone. "How did you know?" she questioned, dumbfounded.

He laughed, his voice deep and rich. "I saw you coming in the reflection of the glass."

She took a few more steps toward him in an effort to see what he had been drawing on the window. Circles, simple interlocking circles. "What were you drawing circles on the window for Your Highness?"

He turned to her, smiling. "Call me InuYasha, please, and your wrap," he grazed a finger down her bare shoulder, "was left by accident in the court yard below. I was thinking of how it would be a shame if it got ruined and was wishing that I could be your hero and retrieve it for you." Not bothering with the circle question.

She smiled and stepped to stand in front of him, his heart racing as she leaned forward to peer over his shoulder at the ground directly below. He closed his eyes, inhaling her sent. Pleasing as it was, it wasn't hers. She smelled currently of strong, expensive, musky perfumes that his servants had doused her in earlier. Her sent was natural and light, like a forest after a rainstorm, a lily growing by a water fall or spring and summer, fall and winter all rolled into one. She smelled of a tropical paradise, sweet and alive with a touch of vanilla...for flavor. He barely caught a whiff of that under the chemical smell and grasped on to it, burning it into his mind forever.

She leaned back and looked up at him "Its alright, it kept getting in my way anyway. I'll send one of the guards down to get it after a bit."

He stepped into the darkness away from the scent of her. It was intoxicating and he wasn't sure how much of fit he could handle and still remain in control. "You still haven't answered my question." he scolded as he sat in the deepest shadow he could find. He wasn't sure he could keep the desire off of his face as he watched her. The lights through the window silhouetted her, framing her in a sparkling backdrop. Her hair shimmered and the jewels holding it in place created a halo effect. She was an angel. He wouldn't have been surprised had she sprouted wings just then.

"What question would that have been?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Oh, fine. Still tired, but with some rest tonight and a workout in the morning, I should be myself again. I always feel better after a good wor...Sesshomaru is concerned about me. Perhaps we should get back."

"He's worried about you?"

"H-his aura is w-wrapped around my...my wrist," She stammered as he gave her a questioning look when it took a little too long for her to answer. "He said it was so he would know if I was in danger. That's how he got to me so quickly when the golem...when it attacked me." She explained, turning back to the window.

A stab of jealousy hit him. Sesshomaru had a connection with her that he did not? "We had better get you back then," he said a bit too harshly, standing to guide her to the bed for her shoes. "We wouldn't want the great Sesshomaru to worry about your safety while in my care, now would we?"

"I'm sure that not what he meant by that, Your Highness. I'm sure he was simply concerned about if I was feeling well, not if I was fairing well in your company." He arched his eyebrow as he firmly pushed her to sit on the bed. "Does he have reason to think that you wouldn't fair well in my company?" he asked as he slipped on her first shoe.

"Well. He had...we heard rumors...that you weren't very nice to your other guides and that most were in tears before the end of first day."

"That's the problem with rumors, my dear. They are full of half truths and lies." He gently took her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. "What you didn't hear is that those other guides...were more concerned on becoming my queen than doing their jobs. Every time I went to a new place, I had to defend myself from the girls who insisted on throwing themselves at me. The last girl wouldn't take no for an answer and even went so far as to show up naked in my room on the second night." He informed her, pulling her to her feet and draping her cloak back around her shoulders as he pushed her toward the door.

She was silent as he guided her out the door and down the hall. It had never crossed her mind that he hadn't actually been cruel to them for no reason, that they actually deserved the treatment they received... Sure, he had been a bit harsh in the beginning, but he had been nothing but respectful and polite since, if a bit short with her. 'I'd probably be a bit salty with people too if I had to beat men off of me where ever I went.'

She glanced up at him, his hurt visible in the clenched jaw and tense muscles under her hand. She was ashamed of herself. He was sacrificing his time, is energy to keep her safe and all she could do to repay him was to believe the rumors about the Prince she had never met.

Sesshomaru looked up as she entered the room with InuYasha and shook his head. She looked so ashamed of herself. His heart broke for her, but she would have to learn to open herself up to people. Had she done so, she would have seen what she needed to before her horrible mistake.

"Sesshomaru, are you sure you're ok with your decision?" the king questioned his friend gently. "She was promised to you first, if you don't want this, I can put a stop to it."

He was quiet for a time as he pondered. "I love Kagome with all my heart, Your Majesty," he began slowly. "Never in a million centuries would I have thought I would ever be saying these words, but Kagome needs more than I am able to give her. Prince InuYasha can heal the hurt and pain that still lives in her heart better than I ever could. I wont ever stop loving her, please don't ask me to, but I am willing to let her go for the sake of her happiness. Besides," he chuckled a bit too dryly, "she was never officially mine. Her father died before the final arrangements for her hand could be made. Know this Your Majesty," he said turning to face the king, "if he ever does anything to hurt her, I will kill him."

"If my son ever does anything to hurt her, I will kill him myself, you have my word on that." he replied, placing his hand on Sesshomaru's shoulder. "If you change your mind about her, Sesshomaru, I won't hold it against you." Sesshomaru could only nod weakly, his amber eyes shining with emotions that could only be named as deep regret and loss.

The two friends watched as InuYasha guided the beauty on the dance floor in time to the song that just started.

"Your Highness," she began. "I'm so sorry."

"For?" he prodded, gazing down at the woman he guided across the floor, amazed at how graceful she was. It seemed her feet still remembered the moves of a royal court member even if her mind didn't.

"For...for assuming that you were responsible for the tears of those women; I should have never assumed that you were at fault for that. I truly am sorry." He said nothing as he glanced around the room to look anywhere but at her.

She sighed as another song started and he still had not released her.

"Those women were idiots and were treated as such. What makes women think I want someone that throws themselves willingly at power?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

"Not every woman wants power, Your Highness." She whispered. "Some women just want to be loved."

He glanced down at her, the sadness he heard in her voice was visible on her face. "You miss your family. You have a family here to replace them though. It's not the same, but some times one type of love has to be traded in for another."

She nodded; this was going to take some consideration. She had never thought of the people she lived at the palace with, her family. Just people she cared for and people who annoyed her on a regular basis. Speaking of which...

"May I cut in?" InuYasha looked up to see a mischievous Miroku grinning from ear to ear. With a curt nod and a bow to Kagome, InuYasha backed away as Miroku spun her out on the floor earning a yelp and laugh from the demoness.

"Looked like you needed some rescuing, so I came to be your knight in shiny shoes." he teased as he dipped her.

"Miroku, I'm falling out of my dress!" she yelled reaching for her top that was dangerously close to becoming a belt.

"Seriously, I don't see the problem in that." he said, bringing her back upright.

Blushing and readjusting herself as she realized half of the room was watching them. "Must you always insist on showing off at these functions? Everyone is staring at us, expecting one of your shows."

"Then lets not disappoint them!" he spun her in circles across the floor as it emptied to let the much anticipated dance team take control.

"What's going on; why is everyone leaving the dance floor?" InuYasha questioned Sesshomaru and his father as he approached the platform their table was sitting on.

"Sesshomaru was just informing me that Kagome and Miroku are the best dancers the palace has. Apparently, there are people who attend these poof and fluff fests just to see the two dance together. Come sit with us InuYasha and watch. They really are quite amazing together."

InuYasha bristled at the words 'together' but stepped up to the platform to get a better view. His father was right, she was breath taking. The two looked like they were the same person, bonded together by the music. Anticipating each others moves, they were flawless. It was like watching a ballet choreographed by the gods.

He swirled her around the floor, every muscle in control. She glided under his guide as if the two were petals floating on a stream. Miroku sent Kagome twirling across the floor, pausing to wink the ladies standing near by, sending blushes across every female face there before joining her again in the center.

The song ended much too quickly and the couple came to stop in front of the king's platform.

"Miroku, I call the next dance!" a voice called from the crowd.

"Actually, if you don't mind, I believe Sesshomaru and I would like the next two dances." The king interrupted.

"Of course Your Majesty." Miroku gracefully bowed out with just the hint of jealousy on his face.

"I had no idea you could dance like that Kagome, it was...beautiful." InuYasha mumbled, still in awe at the beauty before him. What else lay hidden for him to discover about her?

"You should see her fight then." Miroku chuckled.

"Oh, I have seen her fight, that night in the garden..."

"Your Highness," Sesshomaru interrupted. "for Kagome, that was idle child's play. We have been meaning to get her into the dojo to see exactly what she is capable of; it has been a highly anticipated event around the castle."

"I should like to see this as well." The king said, surprising everyone. "Kagome, if you're willing and when you have your strength back, will you humor me with a demonstration?"

Kagome's beautiful porcelain face turned scarlet as she bowed her agreement. 'Oh gods, now it's a royal event!' If she could have, she would have melted into the floor.

Sesshomaru grasped her arm. "No dying of mortification until you have danced with me. After that, do as you wish." He murmured in her ear, his amber eyes sparkled with the gentle teasing, but there was sadness underneath.

"Sesshomaru, is everything ok?"

He gave her a heart stopping smile. He rarely ever smiled and if he did, it was just for her. "Yes, Kagome, everything is as it should be." She nodded, but continued to star into his eyes. "Why do I get the feeling that this isn't the end of this conversation?" he sighed to her.

She simply arched her eyebrow in the annoying manner he had and earned an even rarer, chuckle from him. He would tell her in due time, she was sure of it. After all, she was now sleeping in his room; she had all night to annoy it out of him.


	8. Nightmares and Fresh Wounds

Chapter 8

Nightmares and Fresh Wounds

Kagome lay curled in a tight ball in Sesshomaru's bed. The room was dark except for the patch of light spilling in from the window where she and InuYasha had stood earlier. He had gotten to be her hero after all, sneaking out while she was dancing with his father and rescuing her wrap from the snow that had already threatening to burry it until a thaw. She had been cold and he cursed himself for letting her come back down with out something to cover her bear arms. In her weakened state, all sense of feelings were heightened and he had taken advantage of this at the next dance they shared. Oh, it had all been innocent enough, a brush of the fingers here, a slight squeeze of the hand here, a whisper in her ear while his breath blew across her neck seductively, but in her state, it had felt like the most potent seducing she had ever had in her life and InuYasha took full advantage of this...in the most innocent way possible of course. But then again, didn't it all start out as innocent in the beginning?

Poor Sesshomaru, he never even knew what had hit him. Being fully unaware, InuYasha had to pull him off to the side as she danced with the king, after she became light headed, to tell him what was wrong. Sesshomaru blushed furiously. He had always wanted Kagome, wanted to be with her, seduce her, but damn it, he also wanted to be aware of it when it was happening!

If Kagome had retrieved her wrap sooner, she would have been spared the embarrassment. As it was, Sesshomaru had given her his jacket, claming that her skin felt chilled. Kagome herself wasn't sure how this was possible, seeing as how her entire body felt as if it were on fire, the main focus of it being in her abdomen, but accepted the jacket with a smile anyway.

Sesshomaru sighed as Kagome turned over in her sleep. The most beautiful demoness he had ever met was asleep in his bed and he was on the opposite side of the room from her, wide awake, with out even the smallest hope of ever being able to sleep himself. He groaned mentally. What kind of an idiot would put himself though this. What other options did he have? That perverted friend of hers, Miroku? That would be the day. Miroku would have never tried anything on Kagome...well, not with out permission anyway, but he still want comfortable with the idea of it all. InuYasha? While he was a noble man, he didn't think Kagome would have been comfortable in that situation. She didn't know the prince that well yet and his servants made her uncomfortable. He didn't even have to ask her, it was that apparent.

InuYasha needed his servants to survive. Contrary to popular belief, those weren't sex slaves. He had never even bedded a woman yet. It wasn't that the urge wasn't there; it was the same problem Sesshomaru had. He could never be sure that the woman wanted him for him or for his power.

Sesshomaru had lost his parents at a young age, along with two other boys in the kingdom. Dimitri, the king, had adopted the orphans and had offered to do the same with Sesshomaru. He had declined, stating that he was old enough to take care of himself and as soon as he had made something of himself, he was going to ask Lady Kagome to marry him.

Dimitri admired Sesshomaru's courage and offered him a position on his council. Sesshomaru had gratefully accepted and plans were made for Earth to be opened for exploration. Dimitri had been so impressed with Sesshomaru's skills and planning, that he made him Warrior of the High Council. In essence, the Earth's equivalent of Alden's King. Sesshomaru had opted to share the responsibility with others, hand picked by himself. They were his most trusted advisors and make up what is today the High Council of Demons. Sesshomaru had never made a move with out the full approval of his council.

Dimitri was amazed with Sesshomaru. If he could have had another son, he wanted him to be just like Sesshomaru. With InuYasha and Sesshomaru leading Alden together, there would have been nothing to hold the two back...except that Sesshomaru and declined to be an official member of the family.

A knock at the door startled Sesshomaru out of his thoughts. "Damn it all, just when I had finally managed to get her out of my mind...' Carefully opening the door, he glowered at the trembling servant on the other side. "This had better be worth your life..."

"Lord Sesshomaru, Lord Kouga wishes to speak with you. He would have called you himself, but desired not to risk waking up Demoness Kagome."

"That was a wise decision on his part."

"Yes, Sir. He wishes you to call him as soon as possible, he says it's urgent."

"Yes, I will. Thank you." Closing the door, he crossed the room to the phone on his desk. "You wished to speak with me, Lord Kouga and at two am even...?"

"Yeah, we have a problem. They did it, they did it already. I couldn't stop it, Sesshomaru. I tried. I told them it was too soon, but they wouldn't listen. They woke him up."

"When?"

"Just now, they said it had to be done immediately, although, they didn't tell me why it couldn't wait. Something big is coming, Sesshomaru, something we need him to help us stop for some reason." There was a long pause on the line while Kouga gave this time to soak in, "What are you going to tell her Sesshomaru?"

Sesshomaru turned to face the bed as Kagome rolled over, giving a small whimper in her sleep. "What else is there to tell her but the truth, Kouga? She needs to know...but I don't think..."

"Look Sesshomaru," Kouga interrupted "we all know how you feel about Kagome, but you are the one that needs to tell her. She trusts you."

"Yes...I agree." Sesshomaru sighed. "How long does she have till she has to see him?"

"Tomorrow night. Have you found the other two golems yet?"

"No, but they might not be around anymore. Golems don't last for long and it's been twenty-four hours. If we can make it through tomorrow, she'll be fine."

Kouga cleared his throat before beginning again. "Let me know if there's anything I can do."

"Yes, I will do that and thank you for getting word to me so quickly Kouga." Sesshomaru sighed and hung up the phone.

He leaned against the desk, his eyes on Kagome. Ever since he had answered the door, he had sensed her growing uneasy and now she was starting to panic, his aura being pulled tighter and tighter as she searched the darkness for comfort.

"Please...ple...stay back! Ple...don't...don't hurt...NOOOOOOO!" Kagome sat up in bed screaming as Sesshomaru was yanked by his aura half way to where Kagome lay panting, sweat dripping. Getting his footing once more, he ran the short distance to the bed, grabbing her in a tight embrace as he sat down.

"Oh, it was real. It was so real!" She sobbed into his robe. "He was after me and...he...he killed you and he was trying to kill me! I ran and ran and couldn't fight him...I was too scared! I could feel him, Sesshomaru. I could feel your blood dripping down my chest. I could feel his hands on my neck as you fell to the ground in front of me."

"Shhh! It was just a dream." He could feel her heart beating against his chest. Each beat send a throb through him. She wasn't supposed to be scared; he was here to protect her. She started to tremble violently. The shock from the dream had finally caught up to her. He grabbed the comforter and pulled it up around them; she continued to sob in his arms.

"Who was in your dreams, Kagome?" He asked, once she calmed enough to talk as he reached over to flip on the light.

"I think...it was Stark. I...I couldn't tell. It was so dark in my dream."

Sesshomaru nodded, it was going to be hell to tell her the bad news now. He would wait till morning; after all, that's what he had intended to do to begin with, right?

"Sesshomaru, will you stay with me till I fall asleep again?"

"Ill stay for as long as you like." He whispered, kissing the top of her head.

"Get comfortable then, cause youre not going anywhere." She sniffed. She didn't think she could go back to sleep alone after something like that.

He chuckled as he set her back on the bed, arranging the comforters back around her. He went to retrieve another blanket and his pillow from the couch. Turning around, he practically ran into Kagome. "What are you doing and good gods, what the hell are you wearing!"

"What?" she looked down at her night gown. "It's a night gown, what's wrong with it?"

"It's indecent! It's a slip! It's less than a slip! You parade around in that thing?"

"No. Sesshomaru, I don't parade around in this thing. It's my night gown not an evening gown; only you and Miroku have seen me in it, and I'm still not sure what the problem is." She said, wiping away the last traces of her tears.

"It barely covers anything. It is too low cut at the top and too high cut at the bottom; you may as well be wearing a towel!" he spat.

She laughed at him. "Sesshomaru, it has a pair of shorts that go under it, so nothing "indecent" will be showing. It's just like what I wear in the summer outside, but with a longer top. Besides, what is it you normally wear to bed when you don't have company?

Blushing, he stomped over to the bed, tossing his pillow and blanket to the opposite side. 'I will be going fully clothed if she is going to be running around like that.' "That is not the point here, Kagome."

Sesshomaru lay down on the bed, pulling Kagome in with him and throwing the covers across her. He felt her relax into the bed with a sigh. Well at least one of them would be getting some sleep. Reaching over and shutting out the lamp, the darkness surrounded him, comforting him.

He lay there for what seemed like an eternity before her small voice called out to him. "What is the point, Sesshomaru?"

"The point is, you shouldn't be parading around anywhere dressed like that. I don't like it in summer and I don't like it now."

She giggled some where in the dark as she rolled over to face him. "Sesshomaru! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous."

"Well, it's a good thing that you do know better then isn't it?"

"You are jealous aren't you?" she mused, sitting up in bed.

"Kagome, go to sleep." He groaned an instant before he felt a light pressure from her hand on his chest and an even lighter one on his lips from hers. Her kiss was so sweet and passionate, little butterflies danced across his skin under her touch. "Ka..." his protest was cut off as her hand fisted in his hair and her tongue grazed his lips, inviting his to come out and play.

He rolled over and pulled her back down to the bed with him as his mouth trailed a path of soft kisses down her jaw to her neck. He teased, nipped and licked, enticing moans from her sweet lips as his hands roamed her body. She arched her back as he pulled her into a deeper kiss.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to so this with you, Sesshomaru." She moaned as she released herself from his grasp and straddled him. The butterfly feeling all over his body intensified as she took him in her hand, rubbing against his thin cotton pants, caressing as she leaned down to replace her hand with her mouth...

He shot up with a yelp, panting, as Kagome shook his arm gently. "A dream...it wasn't real."

"Sesshomaru, were you having a nightmare too?" Kagome asked him innocently.

"Yeah...Yeah a nightmare. It was a nightmare. Did you manage to get some sleep? he asked, still panting and trying to change the already...sensitive subject.

She nodded. "Are you ok?" she questioned, reaching out to touch his face in concern. "Youre soaking in sweat!"

"Oh gods please don't touch me!" he saw the hurt expression in her face "Bugs, I still feel like there's bugs crawling all over my skin."

"You had a nightmare...about...bugs?" she questioned, arching her eyebrow at him.

"Yes, yes there were bugs in it." He answered, finally catching his breath. Butterflies were bugs weren't they, so that wasn't an entire lie now was it? "What time is it, Kagome?" he asked flopping back into his pillow.

"It's around eight thirty. I already ordered breakfast, I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all. I can not believe we slept so late. I..." He was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Breakfast is here!" she called cheerfully as she bounded to the door. How the hell could she recover from horrible things so quickly was lost on Sesshomaru.

"Oh," she frowned as she opened the door, "you're not breakfast."

"No, but I could be if you want me to." Miroku laughed as he sauntered into the room followed by a smirking InuYasha.

Miroku and InuYasha froze as they both noticed the still dazed Sesshomaru in his bed...along with a still pajama clad Kagome standing next to them.

"We didn't interrupt anything, did we because I thought you were going to be sleeping on the couch, Sesshomaru?" Miroku asked, not being able to keep the thick stab of jealousy out of his voice. InuYasha opted to say nothing, his eyes voicing his disappointment instead.

"I had a nightmare last night and asked Sess..."

"Kagome," Sesshomaru interrupted. "That wasn't a nightmare."

"What do you mean? It sure as hell felt like a nightmare to me!"

"That's the point, Kagome. In a night mare you wouldn't have been able to feel anything. You said that you could feel his hands on you...it was him. Stark was here, well, in your mind anyway. He managed to link with you and manipulated your mind, making you feel things that weren't real. He's toying with you, I'm not sure why, but he is."

"He...attacked me in my sleep then? Why didn't you tell me this last night?"

"Because if I had told you, you would not have gone back to sleep. He couldn't have hurt you anyway; only make your night uncomfortable."

"What if he had come back!" she asked, sitting on the bed.

"He can not come back, Kagome. Not twice in the same night."

A knock on the door sent Miroku to let the waiter in.

"Did...did he send you the bugs?" Kagome asked carefully

InuYasha and Miroku both perked up at this "What about bugs?" InuYasha asked, slightly amused.

"Sesshomaru had a dream about bugs...I think that Stark may have sent that dream to Sesshomaru."

"No, Kagome." Sesshomaru sighed, rubbing his temples. "I assure you, Stark had nothing to do with my dream."

Kagome sighed and went to eat, her stomach felt like it was going to turn in on itself. She had been late to the ball and wasn't able to eat with the rest, thus missing diner last night. InuYasha hadn't had a chance to eat either. ""Your Highness, are you hungry? You didn't have anything last night."

"No, Miroku and I ate already...and I thought we had discussed you calling me InuYasha."

Choosing to ignore his comment, she quickly ate as the men became engrossed in a conversation about how Stark had managed to enter Kagome's dreams. She didn't care how he had done it; she just didn't want him to do it again. She became irritated, opting to get dressed rather than listen to them. Heading to the dressing room, she began to get the feeling she was...was what? She had no clue. It was almost like there was electricity in the air, like something was coming. She jumped at the light nock at the door. Cursing herself for her jumpiness, she snatched her robe from the foot of the bed.

As she neared the door, the feeling became stronger. Every fiber of her body told her not to go near that door, but her brain kept scolding her nervousness. 'Are you going to jump every time some one says "boo" around here?'

Glancing up from his conversation, Miroku felt the same electricity in the air. His world became slow motion; he was unable to move quick enough to prevent Kagome from answering the door.

As she reached out to the door handle, the hairs on the back of her hand stood on end. 'Its just static electricity, Kagome; nothing you haven't dealt with before. Stop being so afraid; Stark can't get you in the palace. He would never be able to get past the guards.'

She grasped the door handle as Miroku stood and called her name a second too late. Pulling the door open, her eyes grew wide at the face she hadn't seen in almost a week, the face that had started this all. His green eyes bore into her, the same need, and the same desire shone in his eyes just as bright as the last time she had saw him. "Hisoka..." she breathed, just before she fainted.

"Is this a bad time?" he asked, catching her before she hit the floor.

"Aww, damn! Who the hell is this guy!" InuYasha moaned as he rushed forward and took Kagome from him, putting as much distance between the stranger and the girl as possible.

"Hisoka, nice to see you made it through the reanimation process. Please come in." Sesshomaru called from his position by the sofa. "You weren't supposed to be here till later this evening. I have not, as of yet, had the opportunity to inform the Demoness Kagome of your reanimation."

Hisoka nodded and chuckled as the obvious.

"Again, who in the hell is this guy?" InuYasha was becoming irritated now. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. Miroku glanced to get Sesshomaru's approval before pulling Inuyasha to the side to explain the situation. "Who the hells fucking brilliant idea was that?" he yelled after a few moments.


	9. And in This Corner

Chapter 9

And in this corner...

Dimitri paced in his room, his features clouded in an anger that Geoff hadn't seen since the incident so many years ago with Stark. His anger was directed at the Reanimation Council this time though, of which he had no control over.

It was this council's job to review each execution and determine if the offender could be rehabilitated. Hisoka had been on the "no" list until Kagome had mentioned that she had seen something like regret in his eyes. The council had done a Last Active Memory Probe, fondly referred to as L.A.M.P., on him to "shed a light" on Kagome's claim and see what he had been thinking in the last few minuets of life. During that probe, they had come to the conclusion that yes, Hisoka could in fact be reanimated.

What they hadn't anticipated is that Kagura would request that he be made an executioner. That wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that the council hadn't given Kagome enough time to adjust to Hisoka being around again. He had, after all killed two of her best executioners...not to mention they had been her best friends. Unfortunately, since they had no souls when they died, they couldn't be reanimated. That was what made his crime so horrible. It had taken Kagome several days to get over that fact alone.

Yes, Dimitri was pissed and Geoff wished he was any place other than in this room. "How did she take the news?" the king spun on Geoff, causing the poor demon to nearly jump out of his skin.

"Ah...well, were not really sure at this time. She passed out, but that could still be from the incident the other day. She's still got a good three days till she should be over it."

"Why do you say "should"?"

"Kagome heals faster than any of the other demons for some reason. They haven't been able to ascertain why, precisely, but they think it has something to do with her soul, or rather, the strength of it. She should have been in bed till at least today, recovering from the drain that the golem blood put on hers, but she was out of bed mere hours after. She is, by my calculations, a week and a half ahead of her recovery schedule. At this rate, she will be fully recovered by this evening."

The king looked a bit surprised at this. "She is healing quickly isn't she? Perhaps it's time to see just how strong she really is..." he trailed off deep in thought.

"Dimitri, I don't like that look; what are you planning?"

"I'm planning on seeing just how strong my little Kagome is."

"Obviously, but how are you planning on doing so?"

"The only way I know how. Hisoka, Brett, InuYasha, Sesshomaru, you and I are going to battle her." He stood and began pacing the room, looking every bit of a caged animal, the excitement building in his voice. "This is going to be intense, I can tell already."

"I can understand Brett, he would be a warm up for her, but why Hisoka? She's already...beaten him once." Wincing at the fact that he had died the first time around.

"She will have to fight him to place his ranking on the squad eventually. In doing it like this, he'll give her an extra work out and she can kill two birds with one stone."

"How intelligent of you Your Majesty; I would have never thought of that." Geoff smiled and rolled his eyes knowing a little teasing would calm the man.

Dimitri stopped in front of the still seated Geoff, bending over to face him "This is why I am the King and you...are not."

"And here I thought it was your good looks that got you in..."

"That too." He continued after a moment, "So, she doesn't know anything past the fact that Hisoka has already been animated then?"

"Actually, when she woke up, they gave her his L.A.M.P. file and privacy to read it. She hasn't spoken to anyone since"

Nodding, the king stood and stepped over to the window, looking over in time to see a stealth demoness slip from the second story window of Sesshomaru's room and drop silently to the ground. "Now, what do we have here?" he questioned no one in particular as he forced his image to blend in with the window. "It appears our little Kagome has already recovered."

"Fascinating..." Geoff murmured, coming to stand at the window next to the king.

Kagome slipped to the ground in a crouch and looked around. 'So far, so good.' Failing to notice two sets of eyes watching her from a window located behind her.

Standing, she stretched luxuriously and let loose a huge sigh. It had been so long since the last time she had been able to venture out on her own. The snow had started to melt leaving the walk way wet and water dripping from the trees. The already grey sky was heavy with darker clouds, threatening rain soon. She inhaled the crisp clean air, relishing every lung full.

Sesshomaru had been great, taking her in when she could have just as easily used a guest room, but she just couldn't stand another moment inside. She hadn't been on her morning jog in almost five days. It was making her quite irritable.

She took a small discman out of her jacket pocket, putting the head phones on. After a moment of brief contemplation, slipped them around her neck, preferring, for the moment, to listen to nature instead of music. The birds darting here and there to gather the last bit of seed before winter set in. Checking to make sure her shoes were tied and her sweat pants were secure, she took off at a light jog.

Since that time Miroku had come behind her and "helped" her out of her clothing in preparation for her after jog shower, she was paranoid about loosing them again. Sure, she had been wearing her jogging shorts under, but it was still enough to teach her a lesson.

She chuckled at this memory. It was funny back then and it was still funny now. She had sought revenge by pushing Miroku in the fountain they had been jogging past, failing to notice that he had latched on to her tank top and pulled her in with him. He always knew how to make her laugh...or blush depending on his whims.

She wished he would settle down and pick a woman though. He had gone though several women and still hadn't found any one that didn't bore him to tears after a half an hour. Well, he had found one, two actually, but one was his best friend and the other...

"Whatcha thinking' 'bout?" the object of her thoughts materialized out of no where.

"I was just thinking about if you are ever going to get off your ass and ask Lady Sango out" she replied, sighing in defeat. If she was going to be cornered, he was too. "Couldn't you have given me just hour alone, Brett?" She asked, extending her leg, tripping his stride up.

"Hey! That's no fair!" he cried steadying himself. "Lady Sango is...beyond my grasp. Youre not however..." he said slyly, reaching out to shove her off the path.

She jumped over a mud puddle, which was more like a lake with the amount of water in it, attempting to escape and at the last second, changed her mind. Jumping squarely in the center of it, she soaked Miroku from head to toe. Yeah, she was drenched too, but man, was the look on his face worth it.

"Now that..." he replied coolly as he stopped and turned to face her "was uncalled for." Smiling, he strode forward, breaking into a run when she recognized the gleam in his eyes.

"Oh...n-now, Miroku" she stuttered "Lets not do anything that you'll regret. Besides, the waters not that cold." she finished, ducking his tackle and spinning to kick him down into the puddle. Doubling over in laughter, she failed to notice him get up till it was too late.

Sweeping her feet out from beneath her, she fell with a wet slosh on her back in the center of the puddle. Blinking up in shock at the laughing demon, she could only laugh at her situation. She had, after all, started it. Flipping into a handstand, she used the momentum to place a kick in Miroku's chest, sending him sliding through the mud. Before she could right herself, however, he was back with a spinning kick to her head.

She countered, sweeping him off his feet again and jumping to avoid his hand as it struck out to pull her ankle with it. "How did you know I was here anyway? I was careful not to make any noise when I left." the sky chose that moment to break open and unleash a light rain.

Miroku caught her leg as she came down the second time and attempted to pull her down. She caught her hands on the ground in time to perform a neat handspring out of his grasp. He loved to spar with her; she always gave him a run for his money, teaching him new ways to defeat an enemy. Every time, she had a new little trick to teach him and that handspring was a new one. "It seems your escape did not go unnoticed." He said, gasping from his back in the puddle and pointing to the king's window. "Geoff informed me about thirty seconds after your feet hit the ground." He finished that arrogant smirk of his plastered on his face.

Kagome turned slowly to see an extremely amused Dimitri and Geoff laughing through the open window. Cringing, she hung her head, ashamed in her behavior. No matter how caged she felt, it was irresponsible to have snuck off like that. Rain plastered her already wet hair to her head as water dripped from her jacket. She shivered slightly, unsure if it was from the slight chill of the water, which she barely felt, or the gaze of the king and Geoff.

Kagome heard laugher in front of her and looked up, startled to see the prince standing in front of her, dressed in sweats similar to hers and Miroku's, water and all. Wait...water?

"You look like a kicked puppy, poor thing; all dejected by your master and thrown out in the rain!" He broke out in a fresh fit of laughter causing a blush to spread over her ivory features. Miroku's laughter resounded from behind her, causing an even deeper blush.

Narrowing her eyes, she questioned the prince. "You're too wet to have just come outside. How long have you been here?"

"Long enough to see your daring escape though the window."

The look of indignation on her face sent Miroku to his knees in the puddle again in a fresh round of laughter. She leaned back and placed a kick in the center of his chest, sending him sliding through the mud to hit the wall with a slosh.

By this time, the king and Geoff had tears rolling down their faces, trying to catch their elusive breaths from all the laughing. Glaring at the four men laughing at her, Kagome yelled "I hope youre all getting a good laugh about this...really I do!" She stomped out of the puddle, attempting to side step InuYasha.

"Kagome, please don't be angry. We didn't mean to embarrass you." He soothed, reaching out to grab her by the arm.

She spun on him, ducking to a crouch, sweeping his feet from under him. Landing flat on his back with water squishing out of the grass beneath him, he lay there for a few moments, blinking up at the grey sky as the rain continued to fall.

Miroku, Geoff and the king all gasping desperately with purple faces for much needed oxygen. "I guess she showed you!" Miroku rasped out, holding the stitch that had developed in his side.

Kagome's eyes shot up to him; glinting with a promise of death should he be foolish enough to continue with his taunting. Knowing the limits to her anger, Miroku picked himself up off of the ground, giving a wide birth to the fuming demoness as he made a break for the door, still laughing just as hard as he had been before.

Dimitri and Geoff, sensing when enough was too much, stepped away from the window, still chuckling at the sight of the young prince laid out on the wet ground.

"Kagome, I really am sorry...where are you going?" InuYasha called to Kagome's retreating figure, in the direction away from the palace.

"I'm going to finish the jog I started a half an hour ago...Your Highness." the bite of her words making InuYasha flinch.

"You cant go alone, there's still two golems out there and they won't fade till tonight...provided we have calculated the time of their creation in the lab correctly..."he trailed off, doing his own mental calculations. The lab never had been able to tell them where the ingredients had come from, but they had given an approximation on how old the golems were. That was, at least, something.

"I took care of them this morning."

Her words stopping him in his tracks, "What do you mean you "took care of them"?"

"Just what I said...I thought you were supposed to be smart."

"Now, just a minuet!" he yelled, catching back up to her and grabbing her by the elbow, guiding her to a stop. "My intelligence has nothing to do with this and if youre saying that you did what I think you're saying, then I'm a hell of a lot more intelligent than you!"

She arched her eyebrow at him, looking eerily like a black haired Sesshomaru at that moment, and jerked her arm out of his grasp, continuing her jog.

Taking her silence as an admission, "How, how did you do it; and by the gods, when!"

"I simply went for a walk." She smirked as she looked back to see him following, a gaping look of disbelief plastered on his face. "This morning, after my "nightmare", I couldn't sleep and in effort to avoid waking Sesshomaru, I went out. They attacked and I killed them. Really, Your Highness, why is this concept so hard for you to accept? I'm a big executioner; I can take care of myself."

"How did you do it with out getting their blood on yourself or even touching them for that matter?"

"You know, it's amazing how great of a weapon a broom handle from the janitors cart makes when you're in a pinch."

"And...you killed them both, just like that?"

She smiled "Ummhumm."

They jogged on for a few more feet in silence, InuYasha casting long glances in her direction every few steps. Finally, she could take it no longer. "WHAT! What the hell are you staring at!" She yelled at him, stopping her jog and facing him.

"Nothing, I'm sorry." He mumbled quietly and continued on. She was beautiful when she was angry and the cold rain was doing nothing to alleviate the effect that thought was having on him.

How did some one as young as her get to be so brave and smart about things like that. She took BOTH on at the same time, not even caring apparently that her life was in danger. He himself, would have did what he was told and stayed in the company of a body guard at all times, but isn't that what she was...his body guard? He couldn't blame her really, for leaving and for taking care of the situation herself. It's what she was trained to do, that was her job. Why should that be any different, especially now that it was her life on the line?

He looked back to see she had started after him again, slowing so she could catch up. She was used to taking care of others; she had gone up against some of Earths and Alden's most dangerous criminals and survived it all. What were a few measly little golems to her? They were foolish to believe they could hold her, cage her like an animal. InuYasha had to give her credit, when it came to loyalty to her job or her own life, she chose loyalty.

He turned to look at her again out of the corner of his eye, but she caught it this time. "What the hell is wrong with you! Why do you keep looking at me like I have three heads?"

"I'm sorry; I've just never met anyone like you."

"What do you mean "like me"? What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you. There's just so much more to you than most women. You don't back down from a fight and you don't take anything from anyone; you command a small army of the most talented executioners I have ever come across and I must say, you kick some major ass. Doing all that while managing to not be a bitch; I find that fascinating."

"...Thank you; I think." They both jogged on in silence, neither one knowing just what to say after the long morning of awkwardness between them. Eventually, Kagome opted for headphones instead of the strained silence.

InuYasha was baffled 'What the hell is wrong with me? I haven" felt this awkward since puberty.' It took every effort to avoid glancing again back over at Kagome. The drizzle of rain causing steam to rise off her heated body was enough to...well it was enough anyway. And then it hit him like the roll of thunder that had just resonated through the air. He was worried about his new competition for her affections and didn't know how to handle it. It was bad enough with Sesshomaru; Miroku, he could tell that she held nothing for him but a close friendship...but Hisoka; he was dangerous. He was someone that was realistic in a companion, someone that was sensible for her to be with and if that wasn't bad enough, he had the power of attraction. Well, he would just have to double his efforts.

"It's raining harder."

"Huh?" 'Man that was intelligent, Inuyasha!'

"Its starting to rain harder." She repeated, banishing the headphones to her neck once more. "Maybe we should rest for a bit under that tree?" she added, pointing to a giant oak in the distance that promised to shield them from the worst of the rain.

He looked up at the sky, the clouds seeming to darken with each step they took toward the large tree. "Sounds like a plan." He called taking off at a run as the sky unleashed the beginning of its torrent.

Sensing a challenge, imagined or not, she took off in a run after him, easily catching up to him. "Is that all you have? Miroku could probably beat that."

'She wants to play, does she?' InuYasha matched her run stride for stride, that is until she turned and smiled at him. At that moment, he realized that she really was playing with him. As the look of recognition passed through his eyes, she increased her speed, easily outpacing him to the tree. By the time he had caught up, she was leaning against the tree, having already caught her breath.

"Really, Your Highness, I was serious when I sad Miroku could beat you." She smirked, removing her jacket and wringing the water from it. Fortunately for her, her jogging shirt had stayed mostly dry.

"How the hell did you do that?" he asked, copying her actions and admiring the way her now sagging sweats pulled on her hips enough to show the shorts she wore underneath and her smooth stomach peeking out from between her waistband and her shirt. He went back to ringing out his jacket, barely resisting the urge to run his tongue around the rim of her tiny little belly button.

"It's a matter of mind over body." She explained, trying to avoid the sight of him and his white tank top. 'Damn, why the hell does it take so much muscle for him to wring that thing out?' "I teach it to my executioners, but so far, only three of them, Sesshomaru, Miroku and I have been able to master it so completely.

Miroku teaches a variation of it for breathing." He gave her a questioning look and she clarified. "Miroku can hold his breath for almost twenty minuets. I myself can go to ten. That however is not something we tell everyone." She stressed, leaning back and tying her jacket around her hip. "Our talents for these have gotten both of us out of sticky situations before and it would be most inconvenient if our enemies were to get a hold of this information and use it against us."

"Obviously so. Could you teach me those two tricks?" he asked, leaning against the tree beside her.

She shifted, a little uncomfortable at the fact he was so close she could smell the traces of cologne that the rain had all but washed away. "If you like, but it's not something you learn overnight."

"This was my last stop on my little tour so time won't be an issue; I'm not going anywhere soon." He smiled, causing her heart to skip a beat or three.

"O-ok then, Your Highness, we'll s-start training tomorrow" she stammered.

"Why do you refuse to call me by name?" he asked, inching closer to her. She swallowed and tried to take a step back, bumping into the tree behind her instead, as his liquid amber eyes burned into her. Her eyes darted to his lips to escape the heat of his stare, but found a heart wrenching smirk instead of relief from the fire. She looked back to his eyes; the heat was still there, making her squirm.

"I'm sorry; it just seems weird to call you that." He arched his eyebrow at her and she continued quickly "Not that InuYasha isn't a good name...it's a great name in fact. It's just that...your royalty and I...well I'm not. It just doesn't feel right to be that familiar with you." Water dripping from her hair fell on her chest, sliding its way slowly down the curve of her breast and disappearing under the fabric of her sports top. She shivered as she realized his eyes had followed the water drop.

"That's too familiar with me?" He asked with a smile as he reduced the already small space between them. Hooking his finger under her chin, he closed the distance between their lips as he whispered "Is this to familiar for you?" and took her lips in a mind searing kiss.

Kagome's world spun; her head clouding as she latched onto the front of InuYasha's shirt to steady her trembling body. InuYasha smiled and intensified the kiss, burning into her soul the memory of this moment with everything he had.

She felt the tugging on her wrist, but it didn't register past the haze of pure pleasure until the tug became more intense and insistent. "Oh...Sesshomaru..." She broke off as he moved down her jaw to her neck, no loner able to form a coherent thought.

"What!" InuYasha cried, pulling back letting her fall back against the tree. The look of hurt mixed with anger was enough to break her heart.

As her head cleared a bit further and the tug came again, it hit her, what had happened. "Oh no! Sesshomaru is looking for us!" she explained quickly, holding up the wrist that was being tugged forward gently. "I was trying to tell you...but I didn't want to stop" she said, blushing and thoroughly embarrassed.

"I guess we should get back then?"

"Yeah." She replied, still blushing, not able to meet his gaze.

If they thought the jog out had been uncomfortable, it was nothing compared to the jog back.


	10. Resisting Temptations of the Heart

Chapter 10

Resisting temptations of the heart

Stark paced the room of his loft in the industrial part of Tokyo. He had been there, in hiding watching the two jog in the rain. He had been watching in secrete as the two took refuge under the tree and talked. Unfortunately, he couldn't get close enough to hear the conversation with out being noticed. He was there when he saw Inuyasha kiss Kagome under that tree. Stark became enraged and had to be "put down" by "the book" before they were discovered.

"That's the last time I let you out in public again" the book spoke softly in Stark's head.

"But he_ kissed_ her! He kissed_ our_ Kagome!" Stark wailed in his defense.

"She's not ours. She won't be."

"But you said that we wouldn't kill her, you said that we didn't have to! You said her children would be more powerful than she...you said..."

"I know what I said, however you apparently don't. I told you that if we could find out how powerful each of her ancestors were, we would quite possibly see that each one was stronger than the previous. If she had a child, her child would possibly be stronger than she."

"Then you said that if she belonged to us, with our power, she could have an even stronger child than without! She_ belongs_ to us! We'll make her fall in love with us. She'll have our child and then we could have both the power_ and_ her! The soul will be even stronger for the transfer if it's_ our own_ child that gives us the soul. You said that blood ties were stronger than any other! She will be ours, and you let that..._ Inuyasha_ put his filthy lips on her and..." Stark's rant broke as he fell unconscious to the ground.

The book sighed as it took over Stark's body once more, picking him self up off of the floor. "You seriously don't_ still_ think I even intend to keep you around once I'm done, let alone that_ demon_ bitch did you? Oh, you did. How...sweet No, you'll be spending eternity locked up here." He said, tapping the side of his head. "As for your bitch, well she'll be fun to play with, but that will be about all she'll be good for once I get a hold of her."

He crossed the room and picked up the phone resting on the desk next to...himself; The Book of Souls. He chuckled at that fact as he caressed the gold lettering that had become a bit more visible. It sent a shiver through both of his spines; that of Starks and the book itself.

"Yes, sir?" a voice on the other end of the phone questioned.

"I need a car; I'm on my way down now."

"Yes, sir."

Stark hung up the phone and ran his fingers over the book once more before crossing to the door where his coat and a small package wrapped in plastic were waiting patiently for him. "For the trouble you were to acquire," he said, placing the package in his coat pocket, "you'd better be worth it."

The car was waiting down stairs when he arrived. "Where to, Mr. Stark?"

Stark handed the driver a slip of paper without a word and climbed into the long black car. The driver looked down at the paper in his hand and squinted at the address; Morgan's shop. He was going to quit this job if Mr. Stark kept making him go to her place. He was loyal to his employer. Sure, Stark dabbled in a bit of unsavory things, but that woman, the things that woman did scared him more than Stark could ever think of and the locals called her the Black Witch behind her back. His skin started to crawl just thinking about her.

She was a beauty to behold, long raven hair, pale firm skin, the eternal age of her early twenties. However as beautiful as she was, she would always have one thing that set her away from the humans. Her eyes were as black as the blackest coal and as empty as the largest void. Her pupils covered her entire eye, making it look as if you stared too long you would fall in and be devoured.

The driver shivered as he pulled up out side the door that led to the witch and her never ending voids. If the eyes were windows to the soul, he had no doubts that he was as evil as they come.

"Wait here." Stark called as the car rolled to a stop.

The driver sighed in relief; the last time he had gone in, she had requested him in exchange for her services.

Stark walked into the small shop that held the various odds and ends for casting spells and what not. Along one wall were potions, herbs and powders and along the other were knick knacks and bits of things he'd rather not ponder the locations from which they had come.

Crossing the store all the while trying to avoid touching anything, he carefully made his way to the store room where the Black Witch was waiting for him.

"Witch, do you have what I require?"

She flashed a dazzling smile at him, however it didn't quite reach the pure black spheres she called eyes. "Do _you_ have that which _I_ require?" Had she been blind folded, she would have been quite lovely at that moment.

"We had a deal did we not? However, this was more trouble to get than I had originally anticipated." She gave him a questioning look as he pulled the package from his pocket and tossed it to her.

"How was it more trouble?"

"You asked for fresh did you not?" He continued as she nodded and opened the package. "We had to keep him alive for two weeks. Human hearts aren't an easy thing to come by, especially one that has been fed nothing but red meat for two weeks."

"But I only require one week," she grinned as she leaned over and inhaled the aroma of fresh blood and tissue. "It's fresher than I thought it would be." She murmured under her breath.

Starks hand shot out and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. "I give no less than I expect in return. If you ask for one week and I give you two, I expect twice the effort from you. If you ask no more than six hours old and I give you an hour, I expect the same from you."

The witch closed her eyes under Stark's intense gaze. She had never felt this much power radiate from one person before. She shivered as his hand dropped away and her body cried for the over flow of power that had coursed through her during their contact. Shuddering, she reached into her cleavage and produced a small bottle with a thick black liquid inside. "Drink this and you'll have your desired effect."

He turned from her dark empty gaze as she bit down into the human heart in her hands and held the bottle up to the light. "They, Geoff especially, won't recognize me under this spell?" he asked after several minuets.

"Not even your mother would." She replied, wiping the last traces of the heart she had devoured away from her hands. "Of course, you'll have to come up with another name. If they hear the name stark in your presence, the spell will be broken."

"A new name? "

"Might I suggest Kane?" She said, standing and stepping to retrieve her tea that had been forgotten at the excitement of her payment.

"Why that name?" he asked as he turned to face her. Stark froze in place. The woman he knew to be the Black Witch was no longer there. Instead, a woman with beautiful blue eyes stood before him looking very much human now; much more befitting of the name Morgan.

"I know, a shocker isn't it?" she smiled. This time it reached all the way to her eyes. "The human heart gives me humanity. I tend to scare the children less like this. With a heart as well fed and fresh as the one you gave me, this should last a good three months. Thank you, I owe you. As for the name Kane, well he was the man whose heart was "donated" for your payment."

Collecting his wits and clearing his throat "Yes, well that seems fitting I suppose. To Kane.' Stark raised the bottle in a toast and swallowed the sweet tasting liquid and tossed it empty, back to Morgan. She set the bottle on the table and smoothed imagined wrinkles out of her black slacks. "Why are you fidgeting, witch?"

"I was just wondering what your next request would be." She looked up at him with a worried expression, quickly looking away when she noticed him looking at her. Her desire to feel that power again was overwhelming and if he didn't leave soon, she wouldn't be able to refrain from touching him. "I almost didn't get this one done in time and I would hate to disappoint you after you went above and beyond for me."

This witch was only the second person in his existence to stir up the feelings of lust in his human host and if he had any thought that she wouldn't eat his heart one night in bed, he might consider...no. she would turn on him the first chance she got. She could feel his power when he touched her, he had made sure of that and the lust for that _power_, no matter how small the contact, was evident in her now blue eyes. "Rest assured _Morgan, _when I need your services again, I will let you know well in advance. I don't want you rushing things and slipping up now do I? Don't get up, I'll let myself out."

His driver was waiting patiently out side for him, as instructed, when he returned. "Back to the flat please. I need to change before we head to the palace." The blank stare quickly followed by anger he received made him smile. "Stark." The look on the drivers face changed to recognition with out missing a beat. 'Smart one, that boy. I may have to keep him around a lot longer.'

"Yes, sir. Shall I call ahead and have a late lunch prepared for you?"

Ah, yes. Human bodies did have to have nourishment didn't they? "Yes, that would be good. You know," he paused in front of the driver "you're quite handy to have around. Oh, and before I forget; for the time being, I will go by the name, Kane"

"Yes, sir"

Stark slid into the comfortable leather seat and settled in for the ride home. This was going to be a test of his mental strength and it was going to be a huge test at that. Closing his eyes for a moment, he was surprised when the door was suddenly jerked open.

"Sir, you dozed off. Lunch will be served in your study and I had the maid set your clothing on the bed and draw you a bath." He leaned a little closer and whispered to his boss. "You smell like Morgan's Shop. Cant have you walking around like that, especially over at the palace now can we?"

'Why couldn't he have found me instead of Stark?' he stopped to stare at the driver for a moment before nodding his head and going inside. He would have to do something nice for that human, perhaps even go so far as to find out what his name was...

Kagome opened the door of Sesshomaru's room and stopped. The air in there was charged with something and it wasn't pleasant. Gulping, she continued in, still dripping water on the floor and headed straight to the changing room.

"Kagome..."

She froze. He was standing in the window facing the court yard. He had to have known...

"You left the grounds with out telling me."

She gulped again. Yes, he knew. She shouldn't have left, she had known she shouldn't have, but she felt so free after taking on those golems this mor...oh. Yeah, those. From the way he was standing and speaking to her, he had to have known about that as well. The tone and stance was all too familiar to her. This Sesshomaru was not a Sesshomaru that she had ever had to face off against. She had seen this Sesshomaru turned loose on others before and the outcome was never enjoyable, but never, ever on her. He was always so friendly, warm and at times almost...loving to her But now, now she shivered. Not because of the chill in the air but because of the chill in his voice. She was scared. For the first time, she was scared of Sesshomaru.

"Sesshomaru, will you please look at me?"

"I can't." He ground through his teeth, digging his nails into the hard wood of the window frame. "If I look at you now, I my not be able to control my anger with you."

She bowed her head, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She hated this, Sesshomaru being so angry with her. He had never been angry in the slightest toward her and now every second seemed like an eternity, passing as slowly as possible, one bleeding into the next.

"You are not to leave these quarters without myself or Miroku accompanying you again, is that clear?"

Her fear and sadness quickly turned to indignation. "Now wait just a damn minuet! I am a grown woman and think I can decide for myself when and where I go and whom I go there with! I don't need you or any one else telling me what to do."

"Apparently, that's not the case." He replied coolly, still not facing her. "You don't know not to go out unescorted and not to leave the compounds."

"I wasn't unescorted, Inuyasha was with me."

"Ah, yes. His father is speaking to him right now about the dangers of allowing you outside the compounds and the fact that he is to remain clear of you for the remainder of this ordeal since he obviously wasn't clever enough to figure it out on his own."

"This wasn't his fault, Sesshomaru. I snuck out and he and every one else caught me doing so."

"That brings me to another point, Kagome. What do you think you're doing going off like that by yourself? That was a dangerous and stupid thing to have done."

"Danger, WHAT danger! Stark can't set foot near me with out some one recognizing him and the golems are dead. What's so dan... "

"Yes, I saw that little stunt on the surveillance cameras. Nice work, I must say." Finally, he turned to face her. She looked so much like a wet cat he could hardly keep from laughing. Her hair was plastered to her head and she was still dripping on the carpet. Her brown eyes glittered with the fury of ten typhoons. She was feisty and he should have known better than to cage a free spirit like hers. He should have realized that she would tear apart her cage, defying anyone or anything to stop her. Turning back to the window before he really did laugh at her, he pondered. That woman could get the best of him every time and in fact, he would gladly give it if that's what made her happy. She barely heard his next comment. "Please, just don't ever scare me like that again."

Kagome blinked once, twice, three times. "How...how did I scare you?"

"I couldn't feel you here. Kagome. It was like an empty hole in my soul. I searched for you, but something was blocking me. I don't know what, but something was preventing me from sensing you, your aura."

Kagome stepped to the window and wrapped her arms around Sesshomaru, hugging him from behind. "I'm so sorry I worried you, Sesshomaru." She whispered, burying her face into his back. He reached up and placed his hand over one of hers and squeezed. She knew then that Sesshomaru wasn't mad at her and she seriously doubted that Inuyasha was in trouble either. Not that Sesshomaru would lie to her, after all they did leave the palace grounds, she just thought that he was slick enough to talk his way out of it.

They stood like that for quite some time, neither wanting to move, to break the moment they were sharing. But alas, he could be silent no longer. "Kagome?"

"Yes, Sesshomaru?"

Her voice vibrated through his back and straight into his soul causing a warm, pleasant feeling to spread through his body; vaguely reminiscent of the "bugs" of his dream. How many times had he imagined them standing together, just like this or even touching at all? How many times had he afforded to let his mind wander just long enough to imagine her lips pressed on his? How many times..."You're getting me wet, dear."

She gasped and pulled back. The entire back of his robes were soaked though and dripping wet. "Oh, Sesshomaru! I'm so sorry!"

"Just go and get changed" Oh, now there was a welcome thought...a naked Kagome just a few feet away. He groaned mentally as he striped down to the waist. How could one person look for ward so much to some one leaving but yet at the same time, dread that day with every fiber of their being?

Inuyasha stood in the middle of the room, his father glaring at him. "You could have told us you were leaving the grounds, Inuyasha."

"I didn't know we were gonna me leaving the grounds. It just sorta…happened."

"That's no excuse. You're a prince for the gods' sake. You of all people should you don't just run off…Ok perhaps using you as an example was a bad idea. But you know that we have to protect that woman at all costs. Her life is more precious that all of ours right now." He said emphatically, gesturing to the three of them to prove his point.

Inuyasha turned to his father, a questioning look in his eye. "You know, I'm one of the last people that could be accused of not being chivalrous but why is her life so much more important that yours?"

Geoff stood and stepped to the window, standing with his arms crossed. Inuyasha hated that pose, it made him feel like he was about to be scolded. "I went back to Alden and did a bit of digging around. I found out a bit of information that leads me to believe that our little Miss Kagome may not be who we all think she is."

Inuyasha looked at him like he had just been informed he was about to be traded to aliens for some shiny pebbles from Mars. How was it that Kagome could fool someone like Sesshomaru and be able to get away with it for so long? Surely he of all people would know when someone wasn't who the claimed to be. Inuyasha needed clarification because obviously, Geoff had been misinformed. Sesshomaru was no fool and was the last one he expected to be misled by a pretty face. "So she's been lying to us, to Sesshomaru all this time?"

"Oh, no." Geoff countered quickly. "Kagome may not be who she says she is, but if that's the case, she has no idea of it. In her mind, she is…Kagome."

Now Inuyasha was thoroughly confused. How could someone not be who they think they are?

"I know it's all rather confusing, but that's all I can say until tonight after the testing. Shawn is coming to verify our suspicions."

"Shawn is coming!" Wow. This isn't normal, Shawn didn't come to Earth. Ever.

Shawn wasn't a normal demon; in fact, he wasn't a demon at all. Actually, no one was quite sure what he was, just that he had the powers of a holy man and had been sent by the gods, to Earth, for only they knew why.

The elders and council only called on Shawn when there was a very bad person in Alden that needed taken care of. Ironically, Kagome did the equivalent of his job here on Earth.

Geoff shook his head. He knew what his son was thinking. "The gods don't desire her death, Inuyasha. In fact, they seemed adamant that she stay alive and out of harms way at all costs. She's more important to them than they let on to Shawn, but by how much, we have no idea. It's apparent that she doesn't either."

"That reminds me," The king interrupted. "Have you gotten rest for tonight's event? I don't want any screw ups on this one and have them blame it on you again." he shot Inuyasha a stern look.

He blushed and looked at the floor. How did this conversation tie in with the gods, Shawn and Kagome not being who she thinks she is? One time…ONE TIME three years ago he oversleeps due to a night of partying before an important match and he still hasn't lived it down. "I still have five hours till the testing. I think in that time I can manage to squeeze some rest in."

"You'll go and rest now. Ill expect you for the arrival of Shawn." That was an order, not a request. Inuyasha bowed to his father and left.

Inuyasha walked to his room, deep in thought about the reason Shawn would want to be here. This wasn't supposed to be a formal event, so why involve him. Kagome wasn't a threat…was she? If so, what threat was she and to whom? His father was the most powerful demon in existence, so surely it wasn't him. He had so much power that it had to be put into the stones so that he wouldn't destroy his surroundings in his sleep. That still amazed Inuyasha.

His fathers stones weren't all that powerful, just enough to give a little extra boost to who ever had possession of them. People believed that they granted a special power, but in truth, it only enhanced a power they already had, but was hidden and hadn't yet been learned of. Once that power had been tapped into, the stone was no longer needed. The council never felt a need to clarify this to the public and in fact encouraged the roomer. That way, the king could give the stones away as rewards and gifts and not suffer any major problems with it.

Inuyasha himself was not powerful enough to need to create stones to carry his extra power…yet. Before going to Earth, Kaede had meditated over Inuyasha and determined that one day, he would be more powerful than his father. This in itself was amazing because Inuyasha was only half demon. His mother was one of the first humans to travel to Alden. She found her way though by accident and was the reason that Dimitri had opened travel between the two worlds.

She had died when Inuyasha was still a child, so he had few memories of her. Kouga had become his playmate shortly after that and had helped to develop the young demons skills and reflexes while his father was busy. Kouga was a wolf demon, a lesser prince of demons. Inuyasha's head started to hurt just thinking about the hierarchy of Alden. With all the different levels of kings, queens, and royals, it was hard to keep straight.

It had seemed that his father was constantly busy after his mother died. He was sent off to school three years later and when he had come back, the king was back to his old self. Inuyasha was glad. He didn't think he could bear the loss of his mother and his father so close to each other.

Inuyasha sighed as he rounded the corner and bumped straight into Kagome, knocking her on her back and sending her paperwork flying. "Oh no! Now its going to take me forever to get this back together again!" she sighed, not even bothering to look up to see who had run into her.

"Im sorry, I can help. I should have been watching where I was going."

Kagome stood up. "No, no nonono! I can get it. Im sorry, I should have been watching where I was going." She snatched the papers from his hands and hurried down the hall shuffling papers as she went.

"Hey, wait up!"

"Im sorry," she called back "I really don't have time. I have to get these to the office by close or the processing wont be ready."

"Processing for what?"

"The LAMP candidates. These were the files on each prospect. I was a few weeks behind and they were nice enough to give me an extension but times running out now and the LAMPS have to be preformed before the corpses are stored too long." Inuyasha shuddered. "Oh, you're telling me. I killed them all. How creepy is it to see yourself killing some one though their eyes!" Kagome rounded the corner to a door at the end of a little hall. Pushing open the door, she stepped though to a spacious office overlooking the lake.

"Wow, what is this? I've never been here."

"My office. See that door over on that wall?" She asked, pointing to the wall behind her massive desk. Inuyasha noted that the desk was loaded to capacity with paperwork; some of which looked like it had been there for months. "On the other side of that door is Sesshomaru's office."

"Oh. Yeah, then I have been here before. How is it…I got confused on the way here then?" he asked, frowning as he looked outside to get his bearings.

"Don't bother to figure it out." She sat at the desk and began to put the papers back in order. "Sesshomaru had Kaede put a concealing spell on the room so that no one could find it without going through his office or through the back way with me." She looked up and smiled at his questioning look. "I had a problem getting work done with people like Kouga and Miroku constantly hanging around!" She laughed.

He chuckled and became quiet again. Kagome shuffled through her paperwork and stood up. "I think I have it, if you want to wait here, I ll be back in just a second. Its two doors down." He nodded as she left the office. He looked around the room, pausing when the view out of the window suddenly looked familiar. Sure enough, this window was located three rooms from her room. Looking over, he saw that Sesshomaru's living quarters connected through another door to his office. Interesting. At least now he knew he could find his way back here if the need arose. It was just a matter of making that need arise. He turned and smiled as she came back into the room and sat at her desk and began sorting through the mountain of paperwork that had collected.

"So, I hear you'll be going to Alden soon."

"Yeah, I have to leave. Sesshomaru says it's not safe her till Stark is caught. I could probably handle him myself, but he doesn't want to take that chance. I guess I see his point, but I don't like to leave unfinished business. I'm not really sure who's going to handle things while I'm away."

"Who's next in command?"

"Well, it's Miroku but he's coming with us. I suppose Sara is next. She's the only one that comes close to matching Miroku blow for blow." Kagome looked up and bit the end of her pen, pondering. "She has good leadership qualities too. I think I will put her in charge." She pulled out a form and started filling it out, mumbling out loud. "Name…Sara…status…"

InuYasha settled in the plush leather chair on the opposite side of the desk. "What about Hisoka?"

Kagome stopped writing, afraid of her next words. "Hisoka will, he'll be coming with Miroku and I."

"And you're not comfortable with that?"

"Sesshomaru says if he's to be on my team, we have issues to work though. From what we've seen of him in the past, he could possibly rank Sara in ability so he'd be an asset."

"You avoided my question." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knee.

"What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of anything."

"That's not what it looks like from where I'm sitting."

She got up and dragged InuYasha to the door by his arm. "Then perhaps you shouldn't sit there anymore. Now, out. I have too much work to do and entertaining you isn't on my list of responsibilities anymore."

He sighed as she shut the door on him. He wasn't getting anywhere and if Hisoka and Miroku was going on that little trip, he was going too. He marked his way back through the tiny hall and back out into the main hall. 'That's ok, Kagome. This just means that I can take my time and study how to get back here.' He stepped out into the brighter light and turned around. "No! Aw, damnit!" The place where he had just come from was now a solid wall. He ran his hand over the surface and knocked just to make sure. Solid as the rest of the wall. He sighed in defeat and took off for his quarters. As he rounded the corner, he swore he heard the tiny echo of laughter from behind him.

The arena that was set up for the testing held more of a carnival atmosphere than the serious one it was supposed to. Festive banners and vividly colored streamers were hung from every rafter. The residents of the palace had dressed in their brightest finery. Musicians were set up in the corner, playing softly over the laughter and the buzz of excited conversation. There was an electricity in the air that was exhilarating and scary at the same time. It was enough to bring a smile to even the most fouled attitude.

Kagome stepped into the arena and the excited buzzing grew louder. She scanned the audience and decided that meditation was probably the best thing. The smell of Jasmine and Sandalwood coming from the ladies in the audience was enough to make her pass out.

Sitting cross legged in the middle of the floor, she had just closed her eyes when she abruptly found herself on her back, staring into the laughing faces of Miroku and Hisoka. "Very funny guys." She smiled as she unwound her legs to right herself again. She sighed as she redid the ponytail that was used to pull her back. "It tool me forever to get all this hair up."

"Sorry, but you just looked entirely too peaceful sitting there like that." Miroku defended, plopping down next to her with a thud.

Hisoka laughed. "She hadn't even sat down yet when you said "Hey, watch this." I think what Miroku meant to say was that you looked so beautiful, he wanted to come and talk to you."

"Spoil sport."

Kagome laughed at the two throwing jibs at each other. It was nice to see Miroku had unofficially taken Hisoka under his wing. That would help his training immensely. Kagome was just worried what Miroku would be teaching him, the pervert.

Inuyasha stood next to Kouga as they chatted for a bit, watching the ladies show off for the Prince when a strange feeling hit him. He turned to see a young man who looked vaguely familiar arguing with a guard stationed near the ticket booth. As Inuyasha approached, he could hear a bit of the conversation.

"I know I had my ticket here somewhere." The man was saying as he patted his pockets.

"I'm sorry sir, but I can't let you in without one."

"Just give me a second, I know its here somewhere…" he mumbled, searching his wallet yet again.

"Sir, if you could please step aside so we can let in others…."

"What seems to be the problem here?" Inuyasha had a feeling that he needed to be careful but at the same time, he also felt that it was important for this man to be in the room today. He wasn't sure why but he knew that somehow this man would be key to Kagome's safety.

"This gentleman seems to have lost his ticket. Nothing to concern yourself with your highness." The guard replied, bowing.

"He can be a guest of mine. After all," he said, turning back to the stranger with out a ticket, "it wouldn't do for someone to miss the event of the year all because of a silly slip of paper, now would it?"

"Event of the year? More like a life time! We've been dying to get Miss Kagome to spar with us but she's always refused. Now were going to get the chance to see what she's made of with out getting our own butts stomped! Eh…no offence your highness. I'm sure you'll do just fine against her." The guard stammered, eager to remove his foot from the most unpleasant place it seemed to have found itself to date.

"That's ok, I know what you meant." He said, laughing at the guards' obvious relief. He turned to the young stranger. "Shall we go? You'll sit next to Lord Kouga. I'll be out on the floor for a better part of the time. Oh, I don't believe I caught your name…"

"It's Kane, your highness."

"Kouga!"

"Yo, mutt face." Kouga crossed his arms and looked toward Inuyasha.

Inuyasha sighed. "Kouga, how many times must I tell you not to call me by your mothers pet names in public? This is Kane, he's going to be a special guest of mine." Stressing the word special, Inuyasha hoped Kouga was smart enough to understand to keep an eye out for anything unusual about the guy.

"It will be my pleasure, your highness." Kouga had gotten the message loud and clear. This guy looked familiar but he wasn't sure where he had seen him before. Every time he thought he remembered, the sliver of it slipped just out of reach. He sure as hell wasn't about to let this guy anywhere near Kagome though. Kouga turned his attention back to his surroundings. He was sure if he let it slip his mind for a while, it would come to him.

Inuyasha looked up in time to see Shawn and his father come out of the locker room. Kagome was still seated in the middle of the floor with Miroku and Hisoka talking and occasionally laughing.

He knew it was foolish, but Inuyasha didn't care too much for Miroku and Hisoka right at that moment. It wasn't fair that the two of them could put her at ease so effectively. Miroku was a pervert and Hisoka…well Hisoka had killed her best friends and tried to kill her for the love of the gods! He shook his head. Either Kagome was a forgiving individual or she was dense and he didn't think it was the latter of the two so much as the first.

Inuyasha excused himself from Kane and Kouga and stepped out into the dojo when Kagome wasn't looking. He was pretty sure that if Kagome saw him come out of thin air, she would know something was up. His father and Shawn followed his example, taking their seats on the podium. Geoff came in through the doors behind them. Inuyasha scanned the room, looking for any signs of Kaede's spell, but he found none. It was amazing how talented the old woman was. He knew there to be at least seventy people on the bleachers watching tonight's event but he couldn't hear or see any of them.

Kagome looked up as the sound of footsteps surrounded her to see Inuyasha standing over her. 'Wow, red is really his color.' She thought as she stood up. She eyed the ornate sword at his side. "We're using weapons tonight?"

"Yes;" Geoff said from behind her. "it was a last minuet addition. Shawn wanted to see how proficient you are with them."

"Them? We're going to be using more than swords?" Kagome was in trouble. She hadn't had the opportunity to practice anything other than swords. She had _some_ knowledge of the others, but wasn't sure than she could hold her own in a battle with royalty who probably used these things at least once a week. "That's not a good thing."

"Heh, its ok, Kagome." Inuyasha chuckled. "I'm gonna kick your ass with the swords anyway so we probably wont even get to the rest." His plan worked; Kagome was on fire and forgot all about the other weapons. He was about to receive the ass kicking of a life time and the funny thing is, he was going to enjoy every second of it. There was a light chuckle from the rest of the group at Kagome's expense. They knew what Inuyasha was up to and kicked in their part to help. If she could fight on anger alone and not worry about this being a test, then she would pass with flying colors.

"Ahem."

The group turned to see Sesshomaru standing in front of the podium. "Shall we begin?"

Kagome stepped forward and bowed to the three men in front of her. The rest of the group followed.

"Who is the one called Kagome?" Shawn knew, but it was a part of the ritual. He thought it to be stupid, but who was he to change tradition?

"I am." She took a step forward.

"Who is her guardian?"

"I am." Sesshomaru took a step forward.

"As her guardian, Sesshomaru, do you swear you have trained this young woman to the best of your abilities and accept full responsibility for the result of that training?"

"No."

There was a gasp from the room and the audience although no one in the dojo save for the king and Shawn could hear.

"Please explain yourself, Sesshomaru." The king demanded, irritated. This was not how it was supposed to go and he would have words with him later if he didn't have a good reason for this.

"I have trained this, Kagome," he said gesturing to her, "to the best of my ability. But in the time she has been on Earth and been head executioner, her skills have far surpassed anything I could have ever have taught her. She has developed several new techniques to improve the skills of others and my team is the best in the world now thanks to her. I cannot take full responsibility for her training because she has invented her own style of combat. I believe in the last decade or so, she has become my teacher."

Kagome looked at Sesshomaru and smiled when he made eye contact with her. He had humbled himself for her and that was the highest form of praise she could have ever received from him. For the teacher to say he had become the student was unheard of. She looked back to the king and Shawn and saw that the moment had not been lost on them either.

"Well, Kagome." Shawn pondered out loud. "That's quite impressive. Sesshomaru is the second most powerful demon I have ever had the pleasure of encountering and for him to concede that you are now his teacher…" he shook his head. This may not be the one I thought she was. "Have you ever fought her yourself? In a serious test of strength?"

"No, sir. I have not."

"Have any of you fought this woman?"

"I have, sir." Hisoka said, stepping forward.

"And what was the result of that encounter?"

"I lost my life, sir."

"So you were brought back?"

"Yes, sir. My soul was healed and I was permitted to return as her apprentice. I was a most formidable foe and they thought I would be of more use here than dead. I am to be head executioner while Miss Kagome is in Alden."

"Does that make you nervous?"

"A little, sir. Now that I no longer have a wounded soul, I am twice as strong as before but unfortunately; I'm still no where near as strong as she."

"How was your soul healed?"

"I'm…I' mot sure. Actually, no one is quite sure. They have gone through my LAMP repeatedly and can't find an answer to that. The closest thing they could find is that Kagome touched me. When she did, at the moment of contact, I was healed. They couldn't find what did it, but they think it was her." Another gasp came from the nonexistent audience.

"I see. Very good, you have been most informative. Everyone, take your positions."

They formed a large circle around Kagome. "The order of attack will be as follows. Hisoka, Brett, Geoff, Inuyasha, Sesshomaru and then Dimitri. You will attack twice then back off for the next attacker. This will continue until I decide. Anything goes. Do your best and do not hold back. That would be unfair to Kagome and we would fail to find out her full potential." He returned to his seat next to the king. "Ready, attack."

Kagome crouched into a low stance, the leather in her boots squeaking in protest. It had been so long since she had to wear he r armor that it had stiffened. Hisoka drew the new sword that Sesshomaru had given to him. It was a fine sword, the sword of a third ranking officer. Kagome was impressed that Sesshomaru knew her well enough to anticipate her decision on that matter. She was so grateful to have his friendship.

Kagome unsheathed her blade; the sound of it being pulled from its scabbard was almost melodic. Like the sword was singing. Sesshomaru noted that it was the sword he had given her as a birthday present two years ago. He carried the mate to it on his hip. He knew it was silly, but some how it made him feel closer to her. His aura around her wrist wasn't always able to follow her where ever she went so this was the next best thing.

Hisoka stepped to the side and thrust at Kagome, his beautiful sword slicing though the air with a sharp snap.

Kagome spun out of the way and attacked from behind, before he could react. She didn't cut him, but slapped him hard enough across the bottom to leave a welt. Hisoka spun to face her but before he could swing his brand new, beautiful sword a second time, Kagome had cut it in two.

Hisoka yelped. "Hey! I just got that yesterday!"

Sesshomaru laughed. "Don't worry Hisoka. Ill get you a better quality sword tomorrow morning. That one was just for show anyway."

Hisoka grumbled as he jumped out of the way as Miroku took a fight stance.

"Hey, let's dance, baby!"

"Aww, and here I thought we were gonna fight." She teased Miroku.

"Is that what you call what you're doing? I'll have to keep that in mind 'cause it looked like you were playin' with his butt to me." He struck out with his staff, the weapon of choice for perverts everywhere, and knocked her feet from under her. She rounded off in the air and landed on her feet again, smirking.

"Is that the best you have little boy? Step aside and let a man play." She laughed.

"Now see, here you go insulting my manhood. Here I am trying to be all serious and stuff and your tossing out slams like you're a wrestler or something." Miroku used her laughter as a distraction and tried to sweep her feet out again. She jumped his staff and dodged his kick, spinning and sweeping him off his feet as she landed.

Kagome stood straddled over Miroku. "You had enough yet?"

He kicked up, wrapping his legs around her waist and jerking down. She used the momentum to back flip out of his grasp and kick him in the chin on the way over.

"Damn! That hurt!" He stood and stepped to the side as Geoff entered the ring.

Geoff wasted no time with witty banter. He attacked with his swords. One gold, one silver; a balance of light and dark. Geoff was stronger than the others, but Kagome dodged his attacks and after a few failed attempts, she managed to land her two blows.

"Now what were you saying before, Your Highness?" Kagome turned to face Inuyasha and licked her lips; her eyes glinting dangerously with a silver color that he had never seen before. It sent a chill down his spine.

"I was saying that you didn't have to worry about anything past the swords because I was gonna kick your ass anyway."

"That's what I thought." She lunged suddenly at Inuyasha, sending him sprawling to the ground. "If I'm not mistaken, that's blow number one."

Inuyasha rolled over his shoulder to a crouching position and swiped at Kagome's ankles. As she jumped into the air to avoid the attack, he sprang to his feet and threw his shoulder into her stomach, sending her backwards into Sesshomaru. He swung his sword at her head, but at the last second, she ducked and the tip caught the front of Sesshomaru's hori, slicing it in two.

Sesshomaru sighed and stepped back as Kagome swung one foot behind Inuyasha, kicking his legs from behind as her other foot swung up to kick him in the stomach, throwing him to the floor. "And I believe that makes blow number two." She smirked as she rolled over to doge a blow from the mate to her sword.

She turned to face Sesshomaru as he lunged again, bringing her sword above her head to block his blow. The strike was hard and jarred every bone in her body; causing sparks to fly above their heads. The other challengers on the floor retreated to the safety of the platform, giving Kagome and Sesshomaru plenty of room to maneuver.

He towered a head and shoulders over Kagome, the full weight of his body bearing down on hers. Kagome held out for as long as she could before her arms began to shake and her breath became ragged. She dropped to one knee, spinning out from under the blade, throwing him forward. His blade struck the floor with enough force to chip through the cement beneath the rubber mats they were standing on. Kagome lunged at Sesshomaru, catching his left sleeve, cutting it off his arm.

Sesshomaru scowled at Kagome as his sleeve fluttered uselessly to the floor. With out taking his eyes off of the circling Kagome, he reached down to untie his hori and as it slid down his remaining arm, she lunged, slicing downward on his head. Sesshomaru dropped his sword and dodged the blow. As he passed by her, he flung the hori out and it wrapped around her arms.

Silver spread through her eyes as she turned to Sesshomaru and smiled. Before he knew what had happened, she jerked her arm, sending him sprawling and becoming hopelessly entangled in the material. On his way down, she slammed her elbow into his back, sending him into the floor; hard.

Shawn looked on; his eyes squinted deep in thought. It's not her. This woman is much too powerful to be the one I thought her to be. Then that means…. "Dimitri, attack."

"But she's only landed one blow…"

"Just follow my orders no matter what." He turned to Inuyasha. "You attack as well."

Inuyasha nodded and ran out with his father who was helping the out of breath Sesshomaru to his feet.

Shawn called Kikyo forward. "Clear the arena. I want no spectators or guards left in here. Kouga, attack."

The swirl of motion Kagome could feel around her set her on edge. Kouga appeared out of thin air behind the approaching Inuyasha. The king was helping a quickly recovering Sesshomaru to his feet and all were taking an attack stance around her. Geoff, Miroku and Hisoka had taken refuge on the platform with Shawn. He stood. "Show her no mercy. Attack!"

It was a blur of motion on the floor, Kouga striking at her head while Inuyasha struck her feet. Dimitri went for the places that were left venerable from her defending their attacks. Shawn was in awe. Her speed became a blur as she twisted and turned to fend off all attacks. Her eyes became completely silver, glowing with power. Kicking and spinning, dodging and weaving, she managed to avoid every blow and took them down one by one.

She caught Inuyasha in the throat with a spinning kick, and then took out Sesshomaru with a leg sweep. Kouga came next, his arm being torn out of socket in a most violent way and finally Dimitri, his arm flying across the room, his blood coating her sword as he attempted to take her head off.

Kagome turned to face Shawn and drew him to the floor. He was transfixed by her eyes. Something snapped in him, and his body began to glow a pale blue. Kagome's feet lifted from the floor, as blue sphere shot from his body, enveloping the two in a hard shell. The men had a bad feeling about this.

Kouga was the first to the bubble, attacking it for all he was worth. Miroku had come next, attacking with his staff until it splintered in three pieces. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru began their attack, striking with their swords, cursing when they only brought sparks. Exhausted, they collapsed on the floor to await the release of the spell. It was clear that no one uninvited was getting in with out permission.

Kaede and Shippo came forward to help the king with his arm. "Don't worry, your Majesty. This can be reattached and you'll be good as new in a few days." He nodded and smiled weakly. It wouldn't matter to him if his arm was gone if anything happened to Kagome.

"I swear to the gods; it he harms one head on her head…" Sesshomaru ground out as he retrieved his own arm from the edge of the arena.

"We'll hold him down for you." Kouga finished as he kicked at the shield. A tail he normally kept hidden swished angrily when the kick had no result. Inuyasha stood and stalked from the room and Miroku stood to follow him.

"Leave him be." Kouga reached out a hand to stop Miroku. "There's no reasoning with him when he gets like this and it would be a bad thing to attempt to do so." Kouga pulled his hori aside to show a huge, silvery white scar on his shoulder. "Trust me on this one."

The king nodded. "Kouga will go after him when the time is right."

A silver light flared through the top of the blue shield, and then all was quite again. All thoughts turned to Kagome and Shawn; with silent prayers to the gods she was alright.


	11. The Evil Cometh

Chapter 11

The evil cometh

It floated through the universe, wildly casting about, searching for her. She had escaped for the last time. She had purified its arm in their last meeting, the arm falling in ashes to float through space for an eternity, the searing pain finally abating after several hundred years to a dull ache. If not for that, she would be dead.

She had laughed at it as it bent over in pain, screaming in misery. She had called it an abomination to the very nature of the universe, to the existence of living and non living things alike. She had said that it was worthless and the lives it had taken were wasted on something as insignificant as it was.

It had become enraged, its essence expanded to envelope her, smothering her in a black quivering mass of tentacles and shifting blob. She had struggled to free herself, clawing and digging at the jelly like substance that had forced its way down her throat, to strangle her from the inside and had found herself loosing. The gel like flesh had been too much for her and with her last breath, she had screamed. A light enveloped her body, coming from deep inside her soul, slicing the thing in two and freeing her. Ravaged and clinging to a thread of life, she had escaped before it had a chance to reform itself and give chase.

Now, after such a long time of recovery, it had returned. Searching every part of the galaxy, looking for the woman that had escaped it. There would be no escape for her this time, it would see to that.

It continued to cast about, its eyes ever searching for that little slip up that would reveal her to it, to give away her location.

And there it was; on Earth. A minute flash of bluish silver light, the same light it had seen the day she had escaped. That very same light that had saved her flashed through the universe and ensured her death.

It sped off though space, planning its ambush. It preferred a sneak attack, playing fair wasn't a way to guarantee a kill. She would never know what hit her. How she had managed to hide for all those hundreds of years it had no clue, but would soon find out. Earth had many fleshy humans on it. It would take over the body of one of them and blend into the little world where she had managed to hide herself from it. Now to find a human….

Shawn shielded his eyes from the bright blue flair of light that came from Kagome. Just as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. "Who the hell are you?" He demanded, removing his arm to look at the woman who had taken over Kagomes' body.

"At this time it matters not. We must get this woman to safety, away from Earth." Shawn fell to his knees as her voice reverberated off the walls. It sent pleasant waves through his body soothing him as if he were being rocked to sleep by the ocean. He had never heard anything quite so beautiful in his life. "Stand up. We don't have much time and you cannot let yourself be distracted."

"I…I can't…help it." Shawn began to sway with each word that she spoke, his head lulling back.

"This is only a temporary effect. Once I remove this shield, you won't feel this way. You must pay attention, Shawn."

That brought him to reality. He jumped to his feet, taking a defensive stance. "How do you know my name?"

"I have lived within Kagome since she was born. My brother and I were attacked by an entity and he was absorbed. He was playing a horrible prank on me, trying to get under my skin, and was attacked. He fought but in the end, he wore out and was absorbed. I have never cared much for Susanowo, but that was surely not the way that I would have chosen to end his existence."

"Your brother is….Susanowo, the god of the storms! That would make you…"

"Amaterasu, Sun goddess. You may call me Ama." Shawn was stunned to silence. Not only was Kagome hosting another soul, she was hosting THE sun goddesses soul. "I can fill you in on the rest later, but we need to get Kagome away from Earth and devise a way to get my brother, Susa, back."

Shawn, finally regaining his composure, thought to ask a quick question. "Why do we need to move her?"

"Do you remember that light that blinded you a bit ago?" Shawn nodded and she continued. "That light was unfortunately a beacon for the thing that has been hunting me for the last few centuries. It ATE my brother and now it's after me. We must get Kagome out of here as quickly as possible. We have less than 24 hours before it reaches Earth and then it looks for a host body. When that happens, it will show up anywhere at anytime and chaos and destruction will ensue. We must prevent that from happening here. Earthlings and their planet are so much more fragile than you or I."

Shawn was confused. He assumed that she, having all of Kagome's memories, would know about him. "I'm not a demon, I'm a…well I don't know what I am but I know it's not demon."

"I know this and we don't have time to discuss it. One day soon, Ill tell you who you are and why you were chosen to come here, everything but for now you must trust me."

He nodded solemnly. This was going to be quite a story. The blue glow surrounded Ama once more as her body coalesced back into Kagome's, dissolving the shield that had been placed around the three. Shawn blinked his eyes and found himself on his back with a very pissed off Geoff pinning him to the ground by his throat. "What the hell did you do to her!"

Shawn gasped for air, clawing at the hand that was blocking off his air supply. Geoff loosed his grip enough for a small breath. "I didn't do that, it wasn't my shield! Kagome is fine, but there are things that we need to discuss in private." He coughed as the hand tightened again and released in a warning.

"Why did you block her from us?" Kouga asked as he scooped Kagome up in his arms. "She's not breathing! What did you do?" Kouga lay her down again and started chest compressions.

Geoff turned back to Shawn, his eyes glowing a fierce red. As his hand squeezed tighter he pulled Shawn off the ground, holding him inches off the floor. He growled, his voice sounding inhuman. "If she dies, so do you!" Geoff turned as Koga let out a yelp.

Kagomes' body had started to glow a faint blue and her eyes opened revealing opalescent stones. "Kagome is fine, Shawn has not harmed her." It was that same ethereal voice Shawn had heard moments ago. "I have put her in a suspended animation until you leave this place. You must hurry! Ill explain when we are gone! Hurry…It COMES!" The voice yelled, causing everyone in the room to flinch as it faded away and Kagome slipped quietly back into her "death."

"Who the hell was that?" Geoff dropped Shawn on the floor and rushed to Kagome.

Shawn grabbed his throat as he took his first choking breath of sweet oxygen in almost a full minute. "That is what we need to talk about." He gasped, collapsing to the floor

Sesshomaru stepped forward, clearing his throat. "Take Kagome back to my room, Geoff and Kouga, it's time to retrieve InuYasha." He flinched as Kaede finished the final stitch to temporarily reattach his arm until it healed on its own. It would be better than ever, but for a few days, he needed to be careful.

Kouga winced and headed out the doors. "Now if I were Inuyasha….where would I be? In the nearest tree." He sped down the hall, towards the courtyard doors.

When Inuyasha was younger, before his mother died, his father had built him a tree house in the palace gardens. After her death, Inuyasha had sought refuge there, especially when he wanted to feel closer to his now distant father. It was the last thing they had done together, as a family. The tree house was a refuge of love and safety for the child. Since that time, trees represented a safe harbor that no one could take away.

Kouga slammed out the doors and skid to a halt, shocked at the sight before him. The once pristine garden was now a home to broken statues, benches and mangled trees. It looked as if anything that even thought about getting in the demon princes way was destroyed. In the center, was one tree left untouched. In the branches sat the snow covered figure of Inuyasha.

Kouga stepped carefully around the destruction and sat at the base of the tree where the sulking Inuyasha was perched. When he was ready, he would talk.

…….

"Lay her down, carefully." Dimitri instructed. The look of worry eating at the kings' face aged him. "Geoff and I will return to Alden immediately to make arrangements for your detachment, Sesshomaru."

"We shall leave in the morning then, if that's enough time."

"More than enough."

"What shall be done about Stark?" Geoff questioned. He wasn't sure, but it seemed that the creature cohabitating Kagomes body had been more concerned about the new development than him. He wanted no stone left unturned when it came to Kagome and her safety. An unknown threat was on its way, but Stark was still out there and just as dangerous.

"Well have to worry about that later. For now, well just have to hope that he's out of the loop on this one." Dimitri answered after a few moments.

Kaede looked up from her place beside Kagome. Since being moved, her temperature had risen quickly and the girl had broken in a sweat. An herbal pack had been placed under her neck to keep the head from overheating. "Stark knows the plan. He was there tonight. I'm not sure how, but he was. I could feel him. He knows that we plan on returning the girl to Alden and will follow us. I suggest that you worry with the more immediate threat right now. I have a feeling that Stark might come in handy."

"Why is it you think that?" Geoff questioned gently.

"I'm not sure." She shook her head and they knew the ancient woman would say nothing more on the matter. She had a suspicion, but it would be counter productive to divulge that now.

"Kaede, you look tired. Why don't I take a turn and you can go rest a bit." Sesshomaru smiled at her. "I'm willing to venture that you haven't even eaten a thing all day."

Kaede chuckled. "That venture would be a lucrative one for you to follow, Lord."

He guided her to the door. "Ill call ahead and have some food sent to your room." She smiled and bowed. "Miroku, will you see this lovely lady back to her room please? Afterward, pack. You'll be accompanying us to Alden."

Miroku nearly skipped down the hall. His parents had been among the first demons to cross to Earth. Being born here, he had never been to Alden, being considered one of the "new breed". It wasn't that they weren't allowed to go; they just didn't really care to. None really knew what they were missing and had no desire to leave the home that they had found. None really but for Miroku. He wanted to see where his parents were from and his heritage. It would also help out with the women if he could tell them about the fantastic land his parents had migrated from.

Sesshomaru shut the door and turned back to the king and Geoff. "Kagome will be staying at her old home."

Geoff was taken aback. "Sesshomaru, I can assure you that Kagome will be much safer at the palace."

"I don't want to take any chances. Sesshomaru is right." The king interrupted. "He knows Lord Payton's grounds like his palace here. He could protect her in her sleep there if he had to. At the castle it's all foreign to him. Too easy to get lost."

Geoff nodded in agreement. He should have anticipated this, should have known this on his own, but the days events had him badly shaken.

"Don't fret over it, Geoff. I had intended her to stay at the palace myself until Sesshomaru spoke up." The king soothed.

Again, Geoff nodded, this time looking thoroughly relieved. "We shall take our leave now, Lord Sesshomaru." The King nodded in agreement and waved Sesshomaru off with a look of annoyance as he began to bow. "You were almost family, Sesshomaru. A bow from you at this point would be almost insulting." The door shut with a soft click.

Sesshomaru slipped out of his ruined clothing and into his pajamas. Sighing, he walked to the closet, and grabbed the spare blanket and pillow. Throwing them on the couch, he stepped back and glanced at the bed. Kagome was whimpering softly, moving slightly in her sleep. He sat on the edge of the bed and ran his finger down the side of her face. Even in this state of death, she was beautiful. He let his hand rest on her shoulder as he sighed and looked out the window.

It was going to be horrible for Kagome, going back to her house. Back to the place where both of her parents had been killed. To a place where death and destruction were the predominant memories she had.

Looking back down at Kagome, he was startled to see two pale blue eyes staring back at him instead of the chocolate brown he was accustomed to. "Hello."

"She asks for you. I cannot keep her in stasis any longer. The girl is too strong for me now." Ama sat up, looking Sesshomaru over. "I see why she is taken with you. You are taken with her as well, I see."

Sesshomaru scowled. This creature was telling Kagomes personal feelings, feelings that she had told no one. "I do not see that to be any concern of yours. Who are you?"

"I have told you already. Do you not hear as well as the others?"

Sesshomaru could barely hold his anger. Had this creature not been in habitation of Kagome, it would have been shredded by now.

"Mmmm. Such a temper on you. Kagome has excellent taste in men." She ran a finger down his arm and frowned. "She calls for you again. I cannot control her. She has signs of life." Ama shook her head. "She was supposed to be in suspended animation yet her heart beats strong."

Sesshomaru pulled his arm away from the woman. "Release her to me."

"It not that simple. She will be confused and knows not of my presence yet. Do not tell her. I shall emerge and present myself as soon as it's safe for her to do so."

"Why is it not safe now?"

Ama smiled. "Do you really not know who I am?"

"I regret to inform you, only Shawn was present for your revealing of yourself."

"You may call me Ama for now. Talk to Shawn tomorrow, he sleeps now. He shall tell you what he knows and Ill fill in the details the next time we meet. For now know that Kagome will be extremely weak and disoriented" She explained, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek and lay back against the pillow again. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath releasing it as Kagome shot up eyes wide in terror.

"Sesshomaru!" She cried, gasping for air as she launched herself into his lap. She hung on to his neck as if he was her only connection to life and started to cry. "I had a horrible nightmare! I was walking through a desert and couldn't find anyone. I searched everywhere, but no one. As I walked, I found these deep red roses lying on the sand, leading me over the next hill. When I bent over to pick up the first one, it turned to sand and drifted away. I picked up the next one and it disappeared too. I felt bad for ruining the roses and tried to stop touching them, but I couldn't. No matter what, I had to touch the next one and the ones after that." She sniffled and let out a shuddering breath. "It started raining. It was like the desert was crying. As I neared the top of the hill, the most intoxicating smell hit me. I looked down and in the rain; a rose bush was growing in the middle of nowhere. Its perfume was so sweet, like wine. I stumbled down the dune as I cried, trying to resist the temptation to touch it, knowing I couldn't. As I reached out, it disintegrated and blew away. I fell forward to my knees, and hit water. Like an oasis. I sank to the bottom and saw you. You weren't moving, just like a statue."

Kagome started sobbing again. "I…I tried and tried to pull you up, but you were too heavy. You slipped from my hands! I was running out of air and started to swim for the surface and that's when you woke me up." She buried her face in his neck and cried. "I was so scared that I had lost you."

Sesshomaru's heart broke. She dreamt of saving him and when she couldn't, tore herself out of stasis to reach him. And then he cried. He cried with Kagome, now knowing how much she loved him, knowing how much he meant to her even if she still had no idea.

"I don't want to loose you, Sesshomaru." She looked up and wiped the tears from his face. "Please don't leave me."

"I won't leave, I swear." He leaned forward and kissed her gently, pouring his entire heart and soul into that one action. The taste of her lips like the forbidden fruit, sweet in the knowledge that they were once to have been together, bitter with the taste that life was not giving them that chance. He reluctantly broke off the kiss, leaning his head against hers, gasping for breath. "Kagome, we ca…"

"Shhhh! Don't say it Sesshomaru. Please. Lets just be, for once. I just want to exist with you for a moment." Kagome lay back, pulling him with her and cuddled up next to him. "Just be with me." She mumbled, falling asleep again in his arms, secure with the promise he had made.

…….

"Is she ok?"

"Yeah. Asleep, but ok."

"What happened?"

"Don't know yet."

"They still going to Alden?"

"Yep."

"When are they leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning, probably."

He sniffed. "You going too?"

"Yep."

"How long?"

"Don't know that either. Guess it's gonna be for a while though."

He sniffed again.

"You coming in soon? My butts getting cold and you've been out here for three hours now." Kouga finally stood, shaking the layer of snow off that had formed. A fresh shower of snow from above announced the Prince was though with his tantrum.

Inuyasha jumped down and cringed at the mess he had left of the garden. With the snow covering it and the tracks now gone, it looked like it had been abandoned for centuries. It looked nothing like the winter wonderland that he and Kagome had walked through the night before.

"Your father and Geoff have already left. We meet them in Alden in the morning."

Inuyasha nodded and started to walk in. "She really kicked all of our asses didn't she?"

"Heh, maybe yours. I could have held my own."

"You're so full of yourself Kouga. Kagome will totally kick the crap out of you!"

"I could take her with one arm tied behind my back any day of the week."

"I'll be sure to tell her you said that."

Kouga jumped. "Lets not get too hasty now. You know, she needs to rest up first. This took a lot out of her and I want it to be a fair fight when I beat her. No need to say anything right now."

Inuyasha laughed, unaware of the eyes following them as they made their way back in. "Looks like were going home." Stark chuckled as he slipped back into the shadows and slipped over the wall to the waiting car.

"Home?"

"Yes, ring ahead, tell them to pack my things."

"Are we leaving?"

Stark looked at his driver. "I won't be coming back. Do you still desire to go?"

His driver pondered for a few moments. "I don't have family, nothing holding me here. I may not agree with the people you choose to associate with but you've been the kindest employer I've had so far. Yeah, Ill go."

"Well leave for Morgan's in the morning then."

His driver shuddered.

"I feel the same way. She's beautiful though isn't she?"

The driver chuckled as he turned the corner. "Some things are most beautiful from afar."

"I will agree with that." Stark closed his eyes, letting the gentle sway of the road lull him to sleep.


End file.
